On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will take place, which will be visible as total only in most of the northern half of Spain, the northernmost part of Russian Siberia, the westernmost part of Iceland, and the Danish island of Greenland.

The southern area of Guara Somontano is located in this viewing strip, so we invite you to see it with us.

Why does a solar eclipse occur?

The Totality Phase during a total solar eclipse is a very special moment.

At a scientific level, the explanation is simple: The sun is approximately 400 times larger than the Moon, but coincidentally, the Moon is 400 times closer to Earth than the sun. This makes it so that, from Earth, the two objects apparently show the same size.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, completely covering the solar disk.

At a physical level?

Wind picks up, due to the sudden change in temperature. Birds stop flying... cows lie down to sleep... dogs become agitated... and suddenly: It becomes night!!! and you discover, astonished, that stars can be seen in the sky.

You don't know how, but your body tells you that something out of the ordinary is happening. You are altered. You look around your surroundings and discover, amazed, that like you, everyone around you is shouting without knowing why.

Have you gone crazy?

No. You are experiencing a total solar eclipse live. The sensation is as wonderful and special as it is indescribable.

If the Moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the Earth, why isn't there an eclipse every month?

For an eclipse to occur, the sun, the moon, and an observer on Earth must be perfectly aligned. Unfortunately, the moon's orbit around the Earth has a slight inclination of just over 5º with respect to the Earth's orbit around the sun. This small difference turns a phenomenon that could be common into an extraordinary event.

On average, 2 solar eclipses occur annually. Due to the eccentricity of the lunar orbit, most eclipses that occur are partial.

During a total solar eclipse, heading east, a shadow 270 km in diameter travels across our planet at a speed of 3,200 km/h.

On average, a total solar eclipse occurs at the same point on Earth once every 200-300 years.

The last total solar eclipse that occurred in Spanish territory took place in 1959, and was visible only from the Canary Islands. In peninsular territory, it was in August 1905.

There hasn't been an eclipse in continental Europe since August 11, 1999. In those days, we discovered that the next total solar eclipse would be in Spain. We have been waiting for August 12, 2026 for more than 25 years.

In this section you will find a small glossary of astronomy terms.

If while reading through this section dedicated to Star Tourism, as well as watching the videos about what we can observe in the sky in the different seasons of the year, you have any doubts about the meaning of any word, you can consult it below.

You will see that they are explained in a simple way so that anyone can understand what they mean.

• Asterism: A group of stars that form a recognizable shape in the sky, but it's not an official constellation. Like the three Marys in the Orion constellation.
• Ecliptic: The apparent path that the Sun follows across the sky throughout the year. Imagine a line drawn by the Sun as it moves.
• Galactic center: The heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It's where a supermassive black hole and the highest concentration of stars are located.
• Equinox: One of the two times of the year when day and night are almost the same length all over the planet. It happens in spring and fall.
• Zenith: The highest point in the sky, right above your head.
• Double stars: Two stars that appear very close to each other in the sky. They might be truly together (binary stars) or just seem to be.
• Constellation: A group of stars that form an imaginary shape in the sky, like Orion or the Big Dipper. They're like "drawings" in the sky.
• Cluster: A group of stars that are together in space. They can be open clusters (with few stars) or globular clusters (with many).
• Perseids/meteor shower: A shower of shooting stars that happens every year in August. They're small pieces of rock that enter the atmosphere and burn up.
• Alpha star: The brightest star in a constellation. For example, Alpha Centauri.
• Galaxy: A huge collection of stars, gas, and dust, like the Milky Way.
• Binary stars: Two stars that orbit around a common center. They're held together by gravity.
• Lenticular galaxy: A type of galaxy that's between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy. It has a disk shape, but no defined spiral arms.
• Meteor showers: When the Earth passes through an area with a lot of comet debris, these pieces enter the atmosphere and look like shooting stars.
• Radiant: The point in the sky where the meteors in a meteor shower seem to come from.
• Dawn: The time of day when it starts to get light, just before the Sun comes up.
• Nebula: A giant cloud of gas and dust in space. They can be places where stars are born or the remains of dead stars.
• Arcsecond: A very small measurement of angle that's used to measure distances in the sky. It's like dividing a degree into 3600 parts.
• Magnitude (stars): A measurement of a star's brightness. The smaller the number, the brighter the star.

Are you an astronomy enthusiast?

Guara Somontano is located in one of the darkest areas in Spain and the world. Thanks to its dry climate and low light pollution, we can enjoy clear skies almost all year round.

According to the Bortle dark sky scale, developed by John Bortle to describe the amount of light pollution in the night sky, Guara Somontano skies rank at a 3 (rural sky), allowing naked-eye observation of celestial objects with a magnitude limit between 6.6 and 7. For example, in large cities, you might see about 100 stars, whereas in Guara Somontano, you can see nearly 6,000 stars!

This makes Guara Somontano a perfect place to observe the beauty of cosmic elements with the naked eye, including objects like the Triangulum Galaxy, Andromeda, or the Great Hercules Cluster, and to admire meteor showers such as the Perseids.

Throughout the year, various activities are organized, such as observations, water rocket workshops, sundial making, planisphere workshops, and special activities in open spaces like viewpoints or chapels scattered throughout the region. Check our schedule to make sure you don’t miss any.