A Sunflower’s View of Totality
The Moon slid between the Sun and Earth to produce a stunning celestial show visible from Spain in August 2026.
Search
Suggested Searches
- Climate Change
- Artemis
- Expedition 64
- Mars perseverance
- SpaceX Crew-2
- International Space Station
- View All Topics A-Z
- Home
- Missions
- Humans in Space
- Earth
- The Solar System
- The Universe
- Science
- Aeronautics
- Technology
- Learning Resources
- About NASA
- Español
Highlights
  
Back
- Search All NASA Missions
- A to Z List of Missions
- Upcoming Launches and Landings
- Spaceships and Rockets
- Communicating with Missions
- Artemis
- James Webb Space Telescope
- Hubble Space Telescope
- International Space Station
- OSIRIS-REx
- Explore Earth Science
- Climate Change
- Earth, Our Planet
- Earth Science in Action
- Earth Multimedia
- Earth Data
- Earth Science Researchers
- The Sun
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- The Moon
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto & Dwarf Planets
- Asteroids, Comets & Meteors
- The Kuiper Belt
- The Oort Cloud
- Skywatching
- Exoplanets
- The Search for Life in the Universe
- Stars
- Galaxies
- Black Holes
- The Big Bang
- Dark Matter
- Dark Energy
- Earth Science
- Planetary Science
- Astrophysics & Space Science
- The Sun & Heliophysics
- Biological & Physical Sciences
- Lunar Science
- Citizen Science
- Astromaterials
- Aeronautics Research
- Human Space Travel Research
- Science in the Air
- NASA Aircraft
- Flight Innovation
- Supersonic Flight
- Air Traffic Solutions
- Green Aviation Tech
- Drones & You
- Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
- Space Travel Technology
- Technology Living in Space
- Manufacturing and Materials
- Robotics
- Science Instruments
- Computing
- For Kids and Students
- For Educators
- For Colleges and Universities
- For Professionals
- Science for Everyone
- Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, or Speakers
- STEM Engagement at NASA
- NASA's Impacts
- Centers and Facilities
- Directorates
- Organizations
- People of NASA
- Careers
- Internships
- Our History
- Doing Business with NASA
- Get Involved
- Contact
- NASA+
- Images
- NASA Live
- NASA Apps
- Podcasts
- Image of the Day
- e-Books
- 3D Resources
- Interactives
- STEM Multimedia
- NASA Brand & Usage Guidelines
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Highlights
Highlights
  
Highlights
  
Earth Observatory
3 min read
# A Sunflower’s View of Totality
Image of the Day for August 14, 2026
The Moon slid between the Sun and Earth to produce a stunning celestial show visible from Spain in August 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory
Aug 14, 2026
Article
View more Images of the Day:
Instruments:
Topics:
A composite image shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, on August 12, 2026.
Skywatchers across a swath of northern Spain witnessed a total solar eclipse when the Moon lined up directly between the Sun and Earth on August 12, 2026. Those within the path of totality had the rare chance to glimpse the Sun’s active outer atmosphere, or corona, during the short time the Moon blocked the Sun.
This composite photo was taken before, during, and after the total eclipse from a field of appropriately themed flowers in San Millán de los Caballeros, a town about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of León in northwestern Spain. Along with parts of Greenland and Iceland, Northern Spain was one of the few places on land that fell within this eclipse’s path of totality.
Sunset was approaching when the Moon’s shadow, or umbra, swept across Spain. In León, the partial eclipse began at 7:32 p.m. and ended at 9:22 p.m. local time, just minutes before the Sun dipped below the horizon. Totality lasted about two minutes, starting at 8:28 p.m. Farther east in Spain, the Sun set before the eclipse ended.
A total solar eclipse is seen from San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, on August 12, 2026.
In the photo above, taken during totality, a glowing loop of plasma called a solar prominence is visible extending into the corona on the left. Plasma, a super-hot gas composed mostly of ionized hydrogen and helium, flows along the tangled and twisted structure of the Sun’s magnetic fields. Solar prominences, which can measure many times higher than Earth is wide, are sometimes visible to the naked eye during eclipses.
Solar eclipses offer NASA the opportunity to get a different look at the Sun and our own atmosphere. On August 12, science teams staged in Iceland to chase the Moon’s shadow in one of NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude jets and image the corona in visible and infrared light. And the NASA-supported Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project launched scientific balloons before, during, and after the eclipse to measure how Earth’s atmosphere changed when the Sun was temporarily blocked.
While viewing opportunities in the path of totality were limited, the rest of Europe and parts of Africa, Canada, and the U.S. experienced a partial eclipse. Photos and video from the total and partial eclipse are available in NASA’s image library. The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027, with the path of totality crossing southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
_NASA photos by Bill Ingalls. Story by Lindsey Doermann._
References & Resources
- NASA (2026) August 12, 2026, Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- NASA (2026, August 13) Eclipses. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- NASA (2026, July 27) NASA Science Soars During August Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2026, August 12) Stops Along the Path of Totality. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (2025, July 13) Animations of the August 12, 2026, Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026.
You may also be interested in:
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Stops Along the Path of Totality
3 min read
Western Iceland and northern Spain are among the few Northern Hemisphere locations experiencing a total solar eclipse on August 12,…
Article
A Moonlit Earth as Seen From Artemis II
4 min read
An astronaut’s photo, taken en route to the Moon, reveals our planet and its place in space in a novel…
Article
Earthset From the Lunar Far Side
2 min read
The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission captured extraordinary images of our home planet during their journey around the far…
Article
Keep Exploring
Discover More from NASA Earth Science
Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters \\
\\
Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.\\
\\
 Earth Observatory Image of the Day \\
\\
NASA's Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.\\
\\
 Explore Earth Science\\
\\
 Earth Science Data \\
\\
Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data\\
\\
Δ
Did you find what you were looking for?(Required)
Yes
No
Partly
What were you looking for?(Required)
0 of 1000 max characters
What were you hoping to accomplish by visiting our website?(Required)
0 of 3000 max characters
×
Notifications