Annular solar eclipse of January 26, 2028
Wednesday, January 26, 2028
The Moon passes centrally in front of the Sun but is too small to cover it, so it leaves a ring of sunlight, the “ring of fire”. The ring is seen along a path some 315 to 365 km wide that crosses the Galápagos Islands, southern Ecuador, northern Peru, the southern tip of Colombia, the Amazon in Brazil and southern French Guiana, then the Atlantic over Madeira, and ends at sunset over southern Portugal, Spain and the northern tip of Morocco. Over the Amazon the ring lasts up to 10 min 31 s; in Seville, about 7 min 10 s from 5:52 PM, with the Sun low in the west-southwest. Across most of South America, Central America and the Caribbean, West Africa and western Europe the Moon covers part of the Sun.
- Greatest eclipse15:08 UTC (12:08 PM in Amapá, Brazil), near 3.0° N, 51.6° W
- Longest ring10 min 31 s in the Amazon rainforest of northern Brazil, at 0.8° N, 54.7° W
- Partial eclipseMost of South America, Central America and the Caribbean, West Africa and western Europe
The eclipse from your place
Example: Seville, where the ring comes with the Sun 7° up, higher than further east in Spain. Choose your own place.
Annular in Seville: a ring of sunlight for about 7 min 10 s
The ring lasts from 5:52 PM to 5:59 PM local time, with the Sun 7° above the horizon.
The partial eclipse begins at 4:34 PM and ends at 7:08 PM. The Sun sets before it ends.
Even as a ring, the Sun is too bright to look at: keep eclipse glasses on the whole time.
Your location stays in your browser; the times are worked out on this page.
The path of the ring
Swipe the map to follow the path east to Portugal and Spain.
Over Portugal and Spain, minutes before sunset
Times along the path
Local clock times, west to east. The ring reaches the Galápagos Islands in the early morning and southern Spain about three and a half hours later, minutes before sunset.
| Place | The ring | How long | Sun height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto AyoraGalápagos Islands, Ecuador | 7:22 AM to 7:28 AM | about 5 min 30 s | 17° |
| PiuraPeru | 8:33 AM to 8:36 AM | about 2 min 50 s | 30° |
| TumbesPeru | 8:32 AM to 8:40 AM | about 8 min 20 s | 30° |
| MachalaEcuador | 8:33 AM to 8:41 AM | about 7 min 50 s | 31° |
| LojaEcuador | 8:34 AM to 8:42 AM | about 8 min 30 s | 32° |
| CuencaEcuador | 8:36 AM to 8:42 AM | about 6 min 20 s | 32° |
| IquitosPeru | 8:46 AM to 8:54 AM | about 8 min 30 s | 40° |
| LeticiaColombia | 8:53 AM to 9:02 AM | about 9 min 20 s | 45° |
| TeféAmazonas, Brazil | 10:08 AM to 10:18 AM | about 9 min 50 s | 53° |
| ManausAmazonas, Brazil | 10:25 AM to 10:31 AM | about 7 min | 60° |
| OiapoqueAmapá, Brazil | 12:05 PM to 12:13 PM | about 8 min 20 s | 66° |
| FunchalMadeira, Portugal | 4:47 PM to 4:54 PM | about 6 min 50 s | 18° |
| LagosPortugal | 4:52 PM to 4:58 PM | about 6 min 10 s | 9° |
| FaroPortugal | 4:52 PM to 4:59 PM | about 6 min 50 s | 9° |
| HuelvaSpain | 5:52 PM to 5:59 PM | about 7 min | 8° |
| CádizSpain | 5:53 PM to 5:59 PM | about 6 min 30 s | 8° |
| SevilleSpain | 5:52 PM to 5:59 PM | about 7 min 10 s | 7° |
| TangierMorocco | 4:55 PM to 4:58 PM | about 2 min 30 s | 8° |
| GibraltarGibraltar | 5:54 PM to 5:58 PM | about 3 min 50 s | 7° |
| CeutaSpain | 5:56 PM to 5:57 PM | about 1 min | 7° |
| CórdobaSpain | 5:53 PM to 6:00 PM | about 7 min | 6° |
| MálagaSpain | 5:54 PM to 5:59 PM | about 4 min 50 s | 6° |
| ToledoSpain | 5:54 PM to 5:57 PM | up to about 2 min 50 s | 5° |
| GranadaSpain | 5:54 PM to 5:59 PM | about 5 min 10 s | 6° |
| MurciaSpain | 5:55 PM to 6:00 PM | about 4 min 30 s | 3° |
| AlicanteSpain | 5:55 PM to 6:00 PM | about 4 min 50 s | 3° |
| ValenciaSpain | 5:53 PM to 6:00 PM | about 6 min 50 s | 2° |
| IbizaSpain | 5:55 PM to 6:00 PM | about 4 min 10 s | 1° |
| BarcelonaSpain | 5:53 PM to sunset | Cut short by sunset | on the horizon |
| PalmaMallorca, Spain | 5:55 PM to sunset | Cut short by sunset | on the horizon |
Near the path: a partial eclipse
| Place | Sun covered | Greatest at | Begins and ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| GuayaquilEcuador · path a few km south | 84% | 8:38 AM | 7:11 AM to 10:28 AM |
| QuitoEcuador · path about 250 km south | 78% | 8:42 AM | 7:13 AM to 10:34 AM |
| LimaPeru | 65% | 8:37 AM | 7:12 AM to 10:22 AM |
| BogotáColombia | 64% | 8:57 AM | 7:23 AM to 10:55 AM |
| SantarémPará, Brazil · path about 140 km north | 82% | 11:46 AM | 9:47 AM to 1:49 PM |
| MacapáAmapá, Brazil · path about 130 km north | 82% | 12:03 PM | 10:00 AM to 2:02 PM |
| BelémPará, Brazil · path about 440 km north | 74% | 12:07 PM | 10:06 AM to 2:03 PM |
| CayenneFrench Guiana · path about 60 km south | 84% | 12:10 PM | 10:05 AM to 2:09 PM |
| CaracasVenezuela | 51% | 10:29 AM | 8:44 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Santa Cruz de TenerifeCanary Islands, Spain · path about 180 km north | 79% | 4:50 PM | 3:19 PM to 6:08 PM |
| LisbonPortugal · path about 100 km south | 81% | 4:54 PM | 3:31 PM to sunset |
| ÉvoraPortugal · path about 30 km south | 83% | 4:55 PM | 3:32 PM to sunset |
| PortoPortugal · path about 310 km south | 76% | 4:53 PM | 3:32 PM to sunset |
| MadridSpain · path about 30 km south | 82% | 5:56 PM | 4:36 PM to sunset |
| AlmeríaSpain · path a few km north | 82% | 5:57 PM | 4:38 PM to sunset |
| ZaragozaSpain · path about 40 km south | 82% | 5:56 PM | 4:38 PM to sunset |
| RabatMorocco · path about 110 km north | 81% | 4:56 PM | 3:34 PM to sunset |
| CasablancaMorocco · path about 120 km north | 80% | 4:56 PM | 3:33 PM to sunset |
| Mexico CityMexico | 36% | 7:36 AM | 6:31 AM to 8:52 AM |
| MiamiFlorida, United States | 16% | 9:16 AM | 8:07 AM to 10:36 AM |
| LondonUnited Kingdom | The Sun sets before the greatest eclipse | 3:36 PM to sunset | |
Watching it safely
- Look at the Sun only through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer made to the ISO 12312-2 standard. Ordinary sunglasses, however dark, are not safe.
- An annular eclipse never covers the whole Sun, so the glasses stay on the whole time, during the ring too.
- Never look through a camera, binoculars or a telescope without a solar filter fitted over the front, even while wearing eclipse glasses.
- Without glasses, watch it indirectly: a pinhole in a card, or the holes of a colander, projects the crescent and then the ring onto the ground with the Sun behind you.
This follows NASA's eclipse safety guidance. In Portugal and Spain the ring comes minutes before sunset, with the Sun about 7° above the horizon in the west-southwest at Seville and lower further east, so choose a spot with a clear, low view that way, such as a beach or a hilltop.
How these times are worked out
The path, its width and the greatest eclipse come from NASA's predictions by Fred Espenak (GSFC). The times for each place are computed with Astronomy Engine, which treats the Sun and Moon as smooth spheres. NASA notes that the Moon's mountains and valleys shift the edges of the path by 1 to 3 km and change the duration by 1 to 3 seconds, so durations here are rounded down to 10 seconds. In the last minutes before sunset the shadow races across Spain faster than NASA's table, with a row every two minutes, can follow, so the map draws the path's edges there as straight lines, which can be some 15 km out; each place's own answer comes from Astronomy Engine. If your spot is near an edge, as Guayaquil, Toledo and Ceuta are, check NASA's map before you travel.
The total solar eclipses on either side of this one, on August 2, 2027 (southern Spain, North Africa and Egypt) and July 22, 2028 (Australia and New Zealand), have their own paths and times. For every other eclipse, solar and lunar, see when the next eclipse is.