Eclipse of August 12: how to safely observe and film a rare phenomenon

On August 12, a total solar eclipse will take place over Russia and Europe — the first such event in continental Europe in 27 years. We'll tell you how to look at it without harming your eyes, what you'll need for home observation, and how to film an eclipse on your phone.

What kind of phenomenon and why are they talking about it

On August 12, Wednesday, there will be a total solar eclipse — the Moon will completely cover the solar disk for several minutes, plunging certain regions of the planet into a kind of twilight in the middle of the day, reminds xrust. For continental Europe, this is the first such event in the last 27 years: a strip of complete shadow about 300 kilometers wide will pass through the Arctic coast, Greenland, Iceland and part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Russia was less fortunate this time: the full phase will affect only the sparsely populated north-east of Taimyr near the Laptev Sea, where the shadow will arrive around midnight local time — and it is polar day there, so the Sun will still remain above the horizon. But a partial eclipse will be seen by many more people: in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg, the Moon will cover approximately four-fifths of the solar disk, although sunset will end the spectacle before it is completely over. In Moscow, the partial phase will begin at 20:03 Moscow time, reach a maximum at 20:08 and end at 20:12 — that is, you will only be able to see a small “bite” near the horizon.

In Europe, the main point of attraction will be Spanish Valencia: there the total eclipse will last from 60 to 70 seconds, from 20:32 to 20:33 local time, and the next time continental Spain will be covered by the shadow of the Moon only in 2053.

Why can't you just look at the Sun

The most common mistake when observing an eclipse is to rely on ordinary dark glasses. They do not block infrared and ultraviolet radiation, which means they do not protect the retina: a few seconds of looking directly at the Sun, even during the partial phase, can cause irreversible damage to vision, and painlessly — you simply will not feel that the eye is already injured. The only safe direct way is special eclipse glasses with a filter that meets the ISO 12312-2 standard, or welding glass with a darkening index of at least 14.

If you don’t have anything like that at hand, the best option is not to look at the Sun directly at all, but to observe its projection. Below is a working method that can be assembled from scrap materials in ten minutes.

How to make a camera obscura for observing an eclipse

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG7__ You will need two sheets of thick cardboard, a needle or pushpin and some free time.

1. In the first sheet of cardboard, make a small, neat hole with a needle — it should be round and small, literally a couple of millimeters in diameter.
2. Stand with your back to the Sun so that sunlight passes through the hole.
3. Keep the second sheet of cardboard at a distance of half a meter to a meter from the first — it will serve as a screen on which the projection will appear.
4. On the screen you will see a small glowing circle — this is the image of the Sun. During the eclipse, it will be clearly visible how the Moon is gradually “biting off” a piece of it.

This method is completely safe, because you do not look at the luminary itself for a second — only at its projection. A similar effect can be obtained without special preparation: during an eclipse, look at the shadow of a tree crown on the asphalt — the gaps between the leaves will act as natural small pinhole cameras, and dozens of tiny sickles will appear on the ground instead of the usual glare.

How to film an eclipse on your phone

A smartphone will “see” the eclipse even worse than the eye — the camera matrix is just as vulnerable to direct sunlight, and autofocus will not allow you to shoot anything other than an illuminated spot. To get a decent frame:

Applying the same eclipse filter or a pair of lenses from certified eclipse glasses to the lens will protect the sensor and reduce flare. Shoot from a steady position: during the partial phase, the Sun is a small object in the frame, and without a tripod or at least stable support, the frame will be blurred. If your phone has manual settings, set the minimum shutter speed and ISO to avoid overexposing the frame. And, of course, do not remove the filter “for a second to adjust” — most cases of damage to vision and camera sensors during eclipses occur precisely at such moments.

What else is worth knowing before August 12

The phenomenon itself, at the moment of transition from the partial phase to the full one, is accompanied by the “diamond ring” effect — a short but spectacular glow along the edge of the lunar disk at a moment when almost the entire Sun is already hidden. Observers in the full shadow also note a sharp drop in air temperature, unusual animal behavior and the appearance of bright stars and planets in the darkened sky — this time Venus, Mercury and Jupiter will be visible next to the Sun.

If you are not in the zone of total eclipse, but see only a partial phase — and this applies to most regions of Russia — the safety rules are exactly the same: you cannot look at the Sun for a second without a certified filter, no matter how much it is obscured by the Moon.

Sources:

1. https://science.mail.ru/articles/53678-polnoe-solnechnoe-zatmenie-12-avgusta-2026/
2. https://www.kp.ru/woman/goroskop/solnechnye-zatmeniya/
3. https://vtomske.ru/news/215845-polnoe-solnechnoe-zatmenie-12-avgusta-2026-gde-budet-vidno-vo-skolko-nachnetsya

Xrust Eclipse of August 12: how to safely observe and film a rare phenomenon