The Total Solar Eclipse of August 12, 2026
104 Seconds of Eternity
Solar Eclipse 2026 - Photo Uli Nobiling, Zaragoza
Twenty-seven years have passed since I experienced a total solar eclipse for the first and, until now, only time in 1999. It was somewhat atypical. I had perceived it through a thin veil of clouds in a strange grey and blue.
I hadn't expected to experience such an event again in my lifetime. But it was meant to be, and it turned out to be a perfect experience.
The news that there would be a total eclipse near Zaragoza, not far from Barcelona, made me book a hotel, flights, and a rental car right away. I was hungry to feel that special connection between man and universe once more.
Presumably, that first experience had turned me into an »Eclipsomaniac«.
Spain sounded promising in terms of weather, and I had wanted to get to know Zaragoza and Barcelona anyway.
Using the path of totality, I searched for a well-situated spot with a clear view to the northwest, and settled on Monteagudo de las Vicarías, a small town near Soria with a little castle and a reservoir, which I thought would make a good setting. The drive there was uneventful. However, this actually tiny town wasn't mine alone. Around the lake there were surely 200 people scattered about, all enthusiasts.
It was 40°C. The sun blazed from a cloudless sky as I arrived one hour before the moon's first contact. The special glasses gave a sensational view of the sun, which could finally be looked at in a relaxed way. Then, at around 4 o'clock position, the moon touched »el sol«. The spectacle took its course. For about an hour, there was practically no hint of what was soon to happen. Even one minute before totality, it was impossible to look up without protective glasses.
Then it happened rapidly, and I'm still overwhelmed. One last drop of dazzling light lingered for a moment of stillness. It grew noticeably cooler. Then it was dark, truly dark. Like a curtain of grey and black, the vault of the sky revealed itself and showed all its power to the small human being who watched this spectacle in awe and without understanding. Up above there was nothing. A tiny sphere that was able to extinguish all the light on Earth. A sphere far smaller than the Earth or the Sun managed to make everything freeze, darkness fall, and everything seem doomed. Up there was only a very thin thread of light wrapped around the black moon. Otherwise only a few stars could be seen.
All of this happened so abruptly, within a matter of seconds.
I gazed upon the great nothingness that had just been in its full force. I would like to say that I felt humility, but that would be presumptuous in the face of the omnipotence revealing itself, to which I could in no way compare myself. It was a power that showed me that all my thoughts and joys and sorrows were so utterly insignificant. It was a power that showed me that I should simply consider myself fortunate to be aware of this unimaginable force, which it granted me to witness only on a whim. For this power, it held no meaning. It yielded no benefit for me.
The tiny being kneels, does not understand, and is fulfilled and empty at the same time.
Eternity lasted 1 minute and 44 seconds.
Report Solar Eclipse 1999
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