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The longest total solar eclipse over land between 1991 and 2114. Path of totality includes Cádiz (Spain), Tangier, Luxor (Egypt), Mecca, and Jeddah. Maximum duration occurs near Luxor at 6 minutes 23 seconds.
The longest total solar eclipse over land between 1991 and 2114 — 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality near Luxor. Saros 136 currently produces the longest totalities of any active solar Saros.
Time to greatest eclipse
Peak in your local time: 2027-08-02T10:07:50Z
Peak UTC
10:07:50
2027-08-02
Magnitude
1.079
Sun diameter
Max duration
6m 23s
central line
Obscuration
100.0%
Sun area covered
Saros
#136
39 of 71
Gamma
0.142
Shadow axis (Earth-radii)
Cities from the WorldClockTools clock catalog that fall in the central path or partial-eclipse band. Each link goes to the local clock page for that city.
Path of totality
Every phase of a solar eclipse outside of totality requires ISO 12312-2 certified solar viewing glasses or an equivalent solar filter on every optical instrument (telescope, binoculars, camera lens). The same standard applies to total solar eclipses. Glasses can come off only during the brief totality window on the central path; they must go back on the instant Baily's beads reappear at third contact.
Central-line duration is 6m 23s. A typical imaging plan brackets exposures from ~1/1000s for the chromosphere and Baily's beads down to ~2s for the outer corona, fired in a programmable sequence so the observer can watch with the naked eye for at least the middle third of totality.
Local sun altitude, the path crossing time of day, and recent weather climatology drive site selection. NASA's interactive eclipse map (linked below) gives the exact altitude and time for any coordinates on the path.
Editorial dossier
Historical significance
The August 2 2027 total solar eclipse delivers 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality near Luxor, Egypt — the longest totality over any land area between the July 11 1991 Hawaii/Mexico eclipse (6m 53s) and the Mediterranean-crossing eclipse of July 16 2186 (the longest of the millennium, projected at over 7 minutes). For human-scale planning, this is the longest land-totality of the 21st century.
Comparison to other eclipses
Compared to the August 12 2026 European eclipse (2m 18s), this 2027 event delivers nearly three times the totality duration. The Spanish coast sees totality just under 5 minutes, Tangier ~4m 49s, Luxor 6m 23s, Mecca and Jeddah ~5m 30s — a once-in-a-lifetime sequence for the Mediterranean and the Arabian peninsula.
Astrophotography context
Peak occurs at 10:08 UTC with the Sun nearly overhead for the Egyptian and Saudi segments — sun altitude is roughly 80-83 degrees, giving the highest-Sun totality of any modern eclipse. The thermal stability of upper-tropospheric haze in midday-August Egypt makes for unusually steady seeing, ideal for narrowband corona imaging. Tripod planning needs to account for shadow bands at low Sun angle being absent — instead expect crisp Baily's beads and the chromosphere prominently visible at second/third contact.
Religious and cultural context
Totality passes directly over Mecca during the Hajj season window (the eclipse falls between Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram in the 1449 AH calendar). Salat al-Kusuf (the eclipse prayer) is part of Islamic tradition, and this event has been the subject of substantial advance planning by Saudi religious and astronomical authorities.
Top viewing destinations
Sources
Eclipse data depth
Reference fields include Total Solar Eclipse 2027-08-02: Saros context, magnitude / obscuration, path geometry, visibility countries, and city cross-references.
Data source: NASA / JPL
Eclipse data from NASA/JPL — Fred Espenak & Jean Meeus, Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses and Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses (NASA Technical Publications NASA/TP–2006-214141 and NASA/TP–2009-214172). Public domain; re-published here with attribution.
NASA page for this eclipse (path map & circumstances)eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov
Greatest eclipse: August 2, 2027 at 10:07 UTC
