Second solar eclipse of year begins

The second solar eclipse of 2026 began today, with a total occlusion similar to the one that occurred on August 1, 2008, the Astrophysics Department of Baku State University has said.

It noted that the next similar eclipse is expected on August 23, 2044, Caliber.Az reports.

“The partial eclipse began at 19:34 and will end at 23:57. The central eclipse will begin at 20:57 and end at 22:30. During a total eclipse, the Moon’s shadow cone crosses the Earth’s surface because the Moon is sufficiently close to Earth and completely blocks out the Sun. The average length of the Moon’s shadow is 373,320 km. Today, the distance between the Earth and the Moon is 359,445 km. In this case, the Moon’s apparent diameter is 1.0386 times larger than the apparent diameter of the solar disk,” the department remarked.

The eclipse is visible across northern North America, northwestern Africa and Europe.

The total eclipse can be observed only in Greenland, Iceland, Portugal, Spain and the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk.

It will last for a maximum of 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

Millions of people are turning their gaze skywards in the hope of witnessing one of nature's greatest spectacles, as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov