A total solar eclipse is seen on August 12, 2026 in Palencia, Spain but on August 2, 2027, another total solar eclipse, a magnificent phenomenon will blot out the sun over parts of North Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Its longest duration of totality will however be observable near Luxor, lasting for six minutes and 23 seconds: the longest anywhere on the planet until 2114, according to NASA.
Often described as the world’s greatest open-air museum, Luxor, in southern Egypt, has basked in the glow of its grand tombs, temples and monuments for millennia. In less than a year, though, the city of the sun will be plunged into daytime darkness.
Next summer will see the second-longest total eclipse of the 21st century, behind only the July 2009 eclipse — but that year, the point of maximum totality occurred over the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles southeast from the Japanese coast.
In 2027, after curving in from the Atlantic Ocean, the path of totality slices across the base of Spain, Gibraltar and upper Morocco before bending through parts of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia to end in the Indian Ocean.
That puts a swathe of major cities within a blackout route that will peak at a width of approximately 259 kilometers (161 miles), including Cádiz, Spain; Tangiers, Morocco; Oran, Algeria; Benghazi, Libya; and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Yet no city can offer a length of totality, nor a backdrop, like Luxor. Flanked by the Valley of the Kings and Queens respectively, the Nile-straddling metropolis built upon the ancient city of Thebes will be a stunning setting for the longest land-based total solar eclipse since 1991.
In prime position for the so-called “eclipse of the century,” taking in what could be among the most spectacular minutes of a career spent staring into space, will be Oxford University professor of astrophysics Roger Davies.
“Six minutes and 23 seconds is a very long time. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness,” Davies told CNN.
“What you typically see is a couple of planets and the brightest couple of stars. I’m hoping we’ll be able to see a lot more.”
Home to the Temple of Amun and a host of other ancient wonders, Luxor promises to provide the most picturesque of eclipse backdrops.
Chasing the sun
An added boon is the probability of clear skies in Luxor. While dust blown from the Arabian and Saharan deserts is a potential issue, the region has minimal summer cloud coverage, according to Canadian meteorologist Jay Anderson, creator of celestial event weather tracker site Eclipsophile.
What will certainly be a factor, though, is the heat. While the temperature will drop during the eclipse, it has a long way to come down from during the peak of summer in Luxor, where daytime temperatures regularly exceed 41°C (105°F).
With the partial eclipse set to begin near the city just after 11:40 a.m. local time, hitting maximum totality at 1:05 p.m., prolonged exposure to sweltering temperatures risks degrading the quality and output of modern camera equipment, Anderson warns, let alone the dangers to those operating them.
Known for its clear skies, Luxor is a popular spot for hot air balloons.
Known for its clear skies, Luxor is a popular spot for hot air balloons.
As a designated trip scholar to one of many travel packages that have sprung up around next year’s eclipse, Davies’ sightline — likely from an air-conditioned hotel balcony or roof — is already secured, but he fears many others may be left disappointed.
That’s because the greatest obstacle to sky-gazers hoping to catch a unique eclipse may not be clouds or dust, but other sky-gazers. Potentially millions of eclipse-watchers gathering within a relatively narrow geographical path could mean fully booked hotels and gridlocked roads, the astrophysicist warned.
Select hotel prices in Iceland and Spain rose by 98% and 135% respectively ahead of recent eclipse, The Independent reported.
According to Booking.com, more than 90% of accommodations in Luxor bookable through the platform during next year’s eclipse are now unavailable, with many of the remaining hotels priced at upward of £2,000 ($2,695) for a single night.
The nine-day tour Davies will support, starting from £4,950 ($6,600), is fully booked, as is a weeklong program organized by the Harvard Alumni Association where, from $26,950 per person, groups will fly from London to Luxor via Giza by private jet and stay in five-star hotels.
Huge crowds flocked to Paris’ Parc Andre Citroen to watch a partial solar eclipse on August 12 2026.
‘All the world needs to come’
For wider Africa, the eclipse will only serve to strengthen its developing reputation as a starring astro-tourism destination.
With light pollution worsening across the globe, a third of humans — including 80% of North Americans — cannot see the Milky Way, while more than 99% of US and European populations live under light-polluted skies, a 2016 study found.
The three least affected countries — Chad, Central African Republic and Madagascar — were all African, the study added. Namibia and South Africa are among those to have positioned themselves as flagship astro-tourism spots, with each boasting sites certified by anti-light pollution nonprofit DarkSky.
In the Karoo desert region of South Africa, the nighttime view is so pristine that solar systems some 2.5 million light-years away are visible without the aid of a telescope.
“You can see with your own eyes the nearest giant galaxy to the Milky Way, the Andromeda Nebula,” Davies recalled.
“It’s one of the darkest places I have ever been, and I’ve been to a lot of observatories.”
The continent also has a storied history with eclipses. In 1919, British astronomer Arthur Eddington led a team to the West African island of Principe to photograph a total solar eclipse, images that would ultimately prove Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by capturing the bending of starlight by gravity as it passed near the sun.
In 1973, North Africa served as the arena for a daring scientific pursuit as researchers boarded Concorde 001 to chase the moon’s shadow across the Tropic of Cancer at 1,350 miles per hour. The speed of the supersonic jet allowed the team to stretch the totality duration from seven minutes to 74 minutes, setting a still-unbeaten record for the longest total solar eclipse observation in history.
More recently, stargazers in south and central Africa were treated to a breathtaking “ring of fire” in 2016 that saw the sun’s circumference shine brightly behind the moon, a phenomenon known as an annular solar eclipse.
A “ring of fire” solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun at a point where the moon is near or at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth.
For astronomers in Egypt, next year’s long blackout can’t come soon enough. Based in Cairo, the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) is the oldest research institute in North Africa and home to what is claimed to be the largest telescope in the Arab world, the Kottamia Astronomical Observatory.
Though Cairo is outside the path of totality on the day, with a partial eclipse obscuring 94% of the sun, the 50-ton telescope will nonetheless be pointed skyward as part of a sweeping research itinerary, explained NRIAG’s head of astronomy department, Ashraf Shaker.
“All the world needs to come, as tourists and as scientists,” Shaker told CNN.
Source: CNN
