The smile of the Sun: the 2026 solar eclipse photographed from the city of Vigo

This afternoon Spain experienced its first total solar eclipse since June 30, 1973, but back then it was only visible in the Spanish Sahara.

Proba-3, the program led by Spain and Belgium to generate artificial eclipses
The three former WB-57 bombers that NASA uses to capture solar eclipses

The last total solar eclipse visible in Spain was on August 30, 1905, making this a rare opportunity to witness this astronomical phenomenon, which occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. However, according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN), another total solar eclipse will be visible in Spain on August 2, 2027 (in the far south of the Iberian Peninsula and in Ceuta and Melilla) and on January 26, 2028, this time crossing the country from southwest to northeast.

In my city, Vigo (Galicia), the eclipse wasn't total, but we saw 99% of it. For two minutes, the light in the city dimmed considerably, to the point that streetlights came on in some areas. I managed to take some photos, but it wasn't easy. I had to use my camera's maximum light filter, with an aperture of f/22, ISO 100, and a shutter speed of 1/8000. The photo you see above was taken at 8:19 PM CET. You can see the black silhouette of the Moon on the right.

Photo taken at 8:26 PM. The Moon was already covering almost the entire Sun.

Photo taken at 8:27 p.m. The maximum of the solar eclipse in Vigo was expected between 8:28 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Two photos taken at 8:30 p.m. The first is from 8:30:23 p.m. and the second from 8:30:43 p.m. The sun has given us a beautiful smile. 🙂

Photo taken at 8:33 PM. We can already see the sun peeking out more and more on the right.

Photo taken at 8:34 PM. It has been a spectacular experience.