Observing the August 2026 Partial Solar Eclipse

I hope you had a chance to step outside yesterday afternoon. If you did, you might have noticed something unusual happening to the ambient daylight.

On August 12, 2026, we were treated to a spectacular partial solar eclipse visible right here from Lübeck. I set up my telescope and camera to capture the entire progression—from the very first “bite” the Moon took out of the Sun, all the way to maximum coverage, when nearly 85% of the solar disk was obscured.

I’ve put together a 3×3 composite showing this gradual transition. It is always a humbling experience to witness celestial mechanics at work: no drama, no noise, just the Moon sliding across the Sun in perfect silence, casting its shadow to the observers.

A Photonics Perspective: Staring at the Sun (Safely)

As someone who teaches photonics, I would like to convey the message about light intensity and sensor damage — whether that sensor is a digital camera or the human retina.

You should never look directly at the Sun, nor point a standard camera at it. To safely capture this sequence, I equipped my telescope with a highly specialized Neutral Density (ND) filter rated at 1,000,000. In optical terms, this corresponds to an Optical Density (OD) of 6.0.

What does this mean practically? This filter attenuates the sunlight by a factor of one million, allowing only 0.0001% of the incoming visible light to pass through. It perfectly manages the extreme photon flux of our local star, allowing us to safely resolve the fine details of the solar surface without frying the equipment.

Spotting the Sunspots

If you look closely at the un-eclipsed portions of the Sun in the images above, you will notice a few dark specks dotting the orange disk. These are sunspots.

Despite looking like blemishes, these are actually areas of intense magnetic activity on the Sun’s surface (the photosphere). The magnetic fields here are so strong that they inhibit the convection of heat from the solar interior. As a result, these spots are about 1,500 to 2,000 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding surface. Because they are cooler, they emit less light and appear dark to our cameras—though if you could somehow isolate a sunspot from the rest of the Sun, it would still shine brighter than the full moon!

A Quick Trip Back in Time: Chasing the Eclipse at Mach 2

Speaking of eclipses — did you know someone once turned a 7-minute totality into 74?

On June 30, 1973, a team of scientists did exactly that. They boarded Concorde 001, the sleek supersonic prototype, and chased the Moon’s shadow across Africa at Mach 2.05. The goal? To study the Sun’s corona — that mysterious outer atmosphere that jumps from 5,000°C to over a million degrees — which is only visible during totality.

From the ground, totality lasts at most 7 minutes and 4 seconds. Barely enough time for serious science. But at 17,000 metres, above 90% of the atmosphere, Concorde matched the shadow’s speed perfectly. The result? 74 consecutive minutes of darkness.

Chief pilot André Turcat intercepted the eclipse with just one second of error. The scientists on board—from France, Britain, and the US—gathered data that would have been impossible from the ground. That 74-minute record stands to this day.

Not bad for a plane originally built to cross the Atlantic in three hours!