The total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 lasts up to 6 minutes 23 seconds because three things line up at once: the Moon is at perigee, its closest point to Earth, only about four hours before the eclipse; Earth is near aphelion, so the Sun looks small; and the shadow falls almost straight down on Egypt, near the Tropic of Cancer, at midday. No total eclipse will last longer until 3 June 2114, when totality over Saudi Arabia reaches 6 minutes 32 seconds, according to NASA's catalogue. The 2027 eclipse is long, but it is not the longest of the century: that was 22 July 2009, at 6 minutes 39 seconds.
Last updated: 23 October 2026
What makes the 2 August 2027 eclipse last so long?
Totality lasts as long as the Moon's dark inner shadow, the umbra, takes to pass over you. Two things set that time: how wide the shadow is, and how fast it moves across the ground. On 2 August 2027 both work in your favour.
| Factor | On 2 August 2027 | Why it makes totality longer |
|---|---|---|
| Moon's distance | Perigee at about 357,360 km, roughly 06:20–06:30 UT, about four hours before greatest eclipse | A closer Moon looks bigger and casts a wider shadow |
| Earth's distance from the Sun | 1.0149 AU. Aphelion, Earth's farthest point, was on 5 July 2027 (1.0167 AU) | A more distant Sun looks smaller (31.5′ wide, against 32.5′ in early January), so it is easier to cover |
| Eclipse magnitude | 1.079 (NASA) | The Moon's disc is about 7.9% wider than the Sun's |
| Gamma (how close the shadow axis passes to Earth's centre) | 0.142 (NASA) | The shadow hits Earth almost head-on, not at a glancing angle |
| Where the shadow is slowest | 25.5°N, 33.2°E in Egypt, Sun 82° high, at 10:07 UT (13:07 Egyptian summer time) | Near the Tropic at local noon, the ground turning eastwards partly keeps pace with the shadow |
Magnitude, gamma, time and point of greatest eclipse from NASA. Distances and sizes are our own calculation with the JPL DE421 ephemeris (Python skyfield); the perigee time agrees with the moonblink.info table (06:29 UT, 357,364 km) within about 10 minutes.
The Moon's orbit is an ellipse, and its distance from Earth changes by about 50,000 km over a month. A total eclipse at perigee is the best case. Earth's orbit is an ellipse too: in early July we are farthest from the Sun. An eclipse in early August, a month after aphelion and a few hours after perigee, is close to ideal. You can see how this plays out on the ground in our Luxor eclipse guide, where totality lasts about 6 minutes 20 seconds.
Why does totality last longer in Egypt than in Spain?
Because the shadow slows down as the Sun climbs. When the Sun is low, the shadow strikes the ground at a slant and races across it. When the Sun is high, it falls nearly straight down and moves more slowly. Earth's rotation helps too: at 25°N the ground moves eastwards at about 1,500 km/h, the same direction as the shadow. Relative to Earth's centre, the shadow's tip sweeps along at about 3,700 km/h at greatest eclipse; across the turning ground in Egypt it moves at only about 2,400 km/h.
| Point on the central line (time UT) | Area | Sun altitude | Shadow speed over the ground | Totality on the central line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:47 | Atlantic, just off northern Morocco near Asilah | 38° | about 4,690 km/h | 4 min 50 s |
| 09:07 | Eastern Algeria, south of Tébessa | 53° | about 3,260 km/h | 5 min 35 s |
| 09:27 | Gulf of Sidra, off Libya | 65° | about 2,710 km/h | 6 min 05 s |
| 09:47 | Western Desert of Egypt | 76° | about 2,470 km/h | 6 min 20 s |
| 10:07 (greatest eclipse) | Egypt's Eastern Desert, about 55 km east of Luxor | 82° | about 2,400 km/h | 6 min 22 s (NASA: 6 min 23 s) |
| 10:27 | Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea coast south of Jeddah | 76° | about 2,480 km/h | 6 min 13 s |
| 10:47 | Yemen | 65° | about 2,720 km/h | 5 min 53 s |
| 11:07 | Indian Ocean, off Somalia | 53° | about 3,250 km/h | 5 min 22 s |
Our calculation (skyfield, DE421) for points on the central line at 20-minute steps. Our durations run about one second shorter than NASA's; near the edges of the path, totality is shorter than on the central line.
That is why Spain's best is 4 minutes 39 seconds near Tarifa, with the Sun 37° high at about 10:45 Spanish summer time (see our Cádiz and Tarifa guide), while the Nile Valley gets well over 6 minutes. Some cruise ships plan to sit on the central line to catch the longer totality; our guide to the 2027 eclipse cruises lists which ones.
How does 2027 compare with other recent total eclipses?
Putting the numbers side by side shows the recipe. The 2026 eclipse over Spain had a Moon about 9,600 km farther away and a low Sun, so totality lasted at most 2 minutes 18 seconds. The 2009 eclipse beat 2027 because it came 11 days closer to aphelion and its shadow passed even closer to Earth's centre.
| Eclipse | Earth–Sun distance | Earth–Moon distance | Moon/Sun size | Sun altitude | Shadow speed | Longest totality (NASA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 July 2009 (Asia, Pacific) | 1.0160 AU | 357,530 km | 1.080 | 86° | about 2,330 km/h | 6 min 39 s |
| 8 April 2024 (North America) | 1.0015 AU | 359,800 km | 1.057 | 70° | about 2,520 km/h | 4 min 28 s |
| 12 August 2026 (Greenland, Iceland, Spain) | 1.0133 AU | 366,970 km | 1.039 | 26° | about 3,430 km/h | 2 min 18 s |
| 2 August 2027 (North Africa, Arabia) | 1.0149 AU | 357,380 km | 1.079 | 82° | about 2,400 km/h | 6 min 23 s |
| 12 August 2045 (Americas) | 1.0133 AU | 357,290 km | 1.077 | 78° | about 2,470 km/h | 6 min 06 s |
Values at greatest eclipse. Durations from NASA; the other columns are our calculation and agree with NASA's magnitude and gamma for each eclipse.
Notice 2045: its Moon is slightly closer than in 2027, yet totality is 17 seconds shorter. It falls ten days later in the calendar, so the Sun looks a little bigger, and its shadow passes farther from Earth's centre. Small differences add up. If you are deciding where to watch, our guide to what every Spanish city will see covers the partial eclipse outside the path.
Is 2027 really the longest eclipse until 2114?
Yes. NASA's list of total eclipses with more than 6 minutes of totality between 2001 and 3000 has only two entries between 2027 and 2114, and both are shorter: 12 August 2045 (6 min 06 s) and 22 May 2096 (6 min 07 s). The next longer one is 3 June 2114, at 6 minutes 32 seconds, with greatest eclipse at 25.4°N, 41.2°E in Saudi Arabia.
| Date | Saros series | Longest totality | Point of greatest eclipse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 July 2009 | 136 | 6 min 39 s | Pacific Ocean, 24.2°N 144.1°E |
| 2 August 2027 | 136 | 6 min 23 s | Egypt, 25.5°N 33.2°E |
| 12 August 2045 | 136 | 6 min 06 s | near the Bahamas, 25.9°N 78.5°W |
| 22 May 2096 | 139 | 6 min 07 s | Pacific Ocean, 27.3°N 153.4°E |
| 3 June 2114 | 139 | 6 min 32 s | Saudi Arabia, 25.4°N 41.2°E |
| 16 July 2186 | 139 | 7 min 29 s | Atlantic Ocean, 7.4°N 46.6°W |
Source: NASA, "Total Solar Eclipses with Durations Exceeding 06m 00s" (2001 to 3000). Locations named by us from NASA's coordinates.
So "eclipse of the century" needs a footnote. It is the second-longest total eclipse of the 21st century, after 2009, and the longest anyone will see for the next 87 years. Unlike 2009, whose maximum fell over the open Pacific, the 2027 maximum is on land and close to Luxor, a city with hotels, airports and a desert climate. For Spain, the next one after 2027 is covered on our page about the next solar eclipses in Spain.
Why is each Saros 136 eclipse a little shorter?
The 2027 eclipse belongs to Saros 136, a family of eclipses that repeat every 18 years and about 11 days with almost the same geometry. NASA's catalogue shows the family peaked on 20 June 1955 at 7 minutes 8 seconds. Since then each member has been shorter: 6 min 53 s in 1991, 6 min 39 s in 2009, 6 min 23 s in 2027, and 5 min 49 s in 2063.
Two slow drifts explain the trend. Each repeat falls about 11 days later in the year, so the eclipses have moved from June, near aphelion, into August, when the Sun looks slightly larger. And the shadow's path drifts north, so gamma grows (−0.004 in 1991, 0.142 in 2027, 0.212 in 2045) and the shadow strikes Earth less squarely. A larger Sun is harder to cover, and a more glancing shadow moves faster, so totality shrinks.
Each Saros repeat also lands about a third of the way round the world to the west, because the 18-year cycle ends with an extra third of a day. That is why 2009 was over Asia and the Pacific, 2027 is over North Africa and Arabia, and 2045 crosses the Americas.
How long can a total solar eclipse last at most?
About 7 minutes 32 seconds. The astronomer Jean Meeus calculated this in 2003 for the most favourable case possible: the Moon at perigee, Earth at aphelion and the eclipse at a low northern latitude, roughly between the equator and 23°N. Real eclipses get close but never all the way. The longest NASA lists for the next thousand years is 16 July 2186, at 7 minutes 29 seconds, which Space.com describes as the longest between 4000 BC and AD 6000. Saros 136 at its 1955 peak managed 7 minutes 8 seconds.
At 6 minutes 23 seconds, 2027 reaches about 85% of the theoretical maximum. Few people alive today will see anything longer.
What does a long totality mean for watching it safely?
More minutes without glasses, but only during totality, and only inside the path. In Luxor the whole eclipse, from first to last contact, lasts about 2 hours 46 minutes; around 6 minutes of that is totality. For the rest, and for the whole event anywhere outside the path (in Spain that means everywhere north of a line from Chipiona to the outskirts of Almería, and the rest of Europe apart from Gibraltar), you need certified eclipse glasses. Put them back on the moment the first bright bead of sunlight reappears.
- Learn the routine before the day with our guide to using eclipse glasses safely.
- Teaching this to a class? Our classroom kit and four-lesson plan for the 2027 eclipse turns the Sun-Moon geometry into a scale model pupils can walk.
- Watching from Germany? See times and coverage of the 2027 eclipse in every German city: about 28–54% of the Sun is covered there, so glasses stay on throughout.
- Check what a genuine pair must carry in our article on fake and non-compliant eclipse glasses.
- Glasses from 2026 can be reused if they pass a few checks: see can I reuse eclipse glasses.
- Our certificate and test documents are on the compliance documents page.
Tember glasses are CE marked and certified to EN ISO 12312-2:2015, in packs from 4 to 100 pairs. See the glasses.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the 2027 solar eclipse so long?
The Moon reaches perigee, its closest point to Earth, about four hours before the eclipse, so it looks 7.9% wider than the Sun. Earth passed aphelion on 5 July, so the Sun looks small. And greatest eclipse falls near the Tropic of Cancer in Egypt with the Sun 82° high, where the shadow moves slowly over the ground, at about 2,400 km/h. Together these give up to 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality.
Is the 2027 eclipse the longest of the century?
No. It is the second-longest total eclipse of the 21st century. The longest was on 22 July 2009, with 6 minutes 39 seconds of totality over the Pacific. The 2027 eclipse is the longest from now until 2114, and its maximum is over land, in Egypt.
When is the next total solar eclipse longer than 2027?
On 3 June 2114, when totality reaches 6 minutes 32 seconds, with greatest eclipse in Saudi Arabia. The only eclipses between 2027 and 2114 with more than 6 minutes of totality are 12 August 2045 (6 min 06 s) and 22 May 2096 (6 min 07 s), per NASA.
Where will totality last longest on 2 August 2027?
On the central line in Egypt's Nile Valley, near Luxor and Qena, where NASA gives the maximum of 6 minutes 23 seconds at 13:07 Egyptian summer time (10:07 UT). Luxor itself gets about 6 minutes 20 seconds. Jeddah gets about 6 minutes and Tarifa, Spain's best, 4 minutes 39 seconds.
How long can a total solar eclipse last?
About 7 minutes 32 seconds at most, according to Jean Meeus, and only with the Moon at perigee, Earth at aphelion and the eclipse at a low northern latitude. The longest one coming is on 16 July 2186, at 7 minutes 29 seconds (NASA).
Do I need eclipse glasses if totality lasts six minutes?
Yes. You can look without glasses only during totality and only inside the path. In Luxor the partial phases before and after totality last well over two hours, and outside the path, including Madrid, Lisbon, Paris and Rome, the whole eclipse is partial, so certified ISO 12312-2 glasses stay on the whole time.
Sources
- NASA GSFC: Eclipses during 2027 (greatest eclipse, magnitude, gamma, 6m23s, Sun altitude 82°)
- NASA GSFC: Total solar eclipses with durations exceeding 06m 00s, 2001 to 3000 (2045, 2096, 2114, 2186)
- NASA GSFC: Catalog of solar eclipses of Saros 136 (1901–2063 durations and gamma)
- NASA GSFC: Five millennium catalog of solar eclipses, 2001 to 2100 (2009, 2024, 2026, 2045)
- Jean Meeus: The maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse, Journal of the British Astronomical Association 113 (2003)
- moonblink.info: Astronomical table for 2027 (lunar perigee of 2 August 2027)
- Derekscope: Astronomical calendar for 2027 (aphelion 5 July, perigee 2 August)
- Space.com: Why is the 2027 total solar eclipse being called the "eclipse of the century"?, 6 October 2026
- Sky & Telescope: Plan for next year's total solar eclipse, 2 August 2026 (Luxor and Tarifa durations)
- Our own calculations with Skyfield and the JPL DE421 ephemeris (distances, apparent sizes, shadow speed, central-line durations), 23 October 2026