Annular eclipse — a ring at Spanish sunset (2028)
From Ecuador, Peru and Brazil across the Atlantic to Spain and Portugal at sunset — Seville sees the ring low over the horizon.
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The story
The eclipse of 26 January 2028 is one the Moon cannot quite finish. The Moon is far enough from Earth that its apparent disk is smaller than the Sun's, so even at maximum a bright rim of photosphere survives all the way around. That is an annular eclipse, the ring of fire.
The path begins in the Pacific, crosses the Galápagos Islands and makes landfall on the west coast of South America. It runs through Ecuador and Peru, cuts across Brazil, leaves over the Atlantic and reaches the Iberian peninsula after the ocean crossing. By the time it arrives in Portugal and Spain the local Sun is already going down, so the European leg shows the ring hanging low and ends with sunset itself.
What Seville and the rest of southern Spain will see is the signature image of this eclipse. A low Sun sends its light through a long slant of atmosphere, which reddens it, so the ring is likely to look orange rather than white. A ring near the horizon is also unusual photographically: buildings and landscape can share the frame with it, which is almost never possible at midday.
The January date is not a coincidence. Earth passes closest to the Sun in early January, which makes the solar disk appear slightly larger than average. Combine a large-looking Sun with a small-looking Moon and the result is a ring rather than totality. Use the replay on this page to check the western sky over Seville that evening in advance.
Why it matters
An annular eclipse is visible proof that the Moon's orbit is not a circle. The Moon travels an ellipse around Earth, so its apparent diameter changes noticeably between near and far, and that difference alone decides whether an eclipse is total or annular. The same geometry produces two completely different events depending on distance, which makes a ring eclipse a direct demonstration of the scale of the system.
Annular eclipses are also good for measuring the Sun precisely. As the ring breaks and re-forms, sunlight streams through valleys on the lunar limb to produce Baily's beads; timing those beads accurately from several sites yields a value for the solar radius. Now that the Moon's topography has been mapped in detail from orbit, the method is far more accurate than it was for earlier generations.
What an annular eclipse does not give you is the thing totality is famous for. The surviving ring is still dazzling, so no corona appears and the sky never goes dark. Knowing that beforehand prevents disappointment. A ring eclipse is not a smaller version of a total one; it is a separate phenomenon, and a ring resting on the horizon is a sight totality never provides.
How to watch
The annular path crosses the Galápagos, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, then the Atlantic, and reaches Portugal and southern Spain. In South America it happens during the day; on the Iberian peninsula it coincides with sunset. A partial eclipse is visible over most of South America, parts of West Africa and a wide stretch of western Europe. In European cities on the path, such as Seville, the Sun will be very low, so an unobstructed western horizon is essential — a coast, a river valley or a hilltop.
The safety rule here is simpler than for a total eclipse, and stricter. An annular eclipse never offers a safe moment for unfiltered viewing. From first contact to last, including the instant the ring is most complete, you need eclipse glasses certified to ISO 12312-2. That remains true even when the low Sun looks deceptively gentle. Binoculars, telescopes and cameras need full-aperture solar filters, and with an annular eclipse there is no point at which they may come off.
A low Sun is an advantage if you plan to photograph it. A normal lens can frame the ring together with the landscape, and a telephoto will record the way atmospheric turbulence near the horizon distorts and flattens the ring. If you cannot travel, live coverage is likely, and the replay on this page reconstructs the Seville sky of that evening wherever you are.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
For Spain this ring closes a remarkable run of three eclipses in eighteen months: the total eclipse crossing northern Spain on 12 August 2026, the total eclipse clipping the southern tip on 2 August 2027, and this annular eclipse on 26 January 2028. A single country receiving that many in so short a span is very unusual, and Spanish observatories and regional authorities began planning for the sequence years in advance.
The South American leg matters too. A path linking the Galápagos, the Andes and the Amazon basin threads together places with wildly different altitudes and climates. Watching the same ring from a high Andean plateau and from the Brazilian lowlands are not comparable experiences: the air itself is different, and so is the chance of a clear sky.
More rings follow. On 1 June 2030 an annular eclipse crosses North Africa, Greece and Siberia and ends at sunset over eastern Hokkaido, and another comes in 2031. Annular eclipses are in fact more common than total ones, simply because the Moon spends a good deal of its orbit far enough away to fall short of covering the Sun.
FAQ
How is an annular eclipse different from a total one?
The Moon fails to cover the Sun completely, leaving a bright ring. As a result no corona appears, the sky never darkens to night, and there is no moment when unfiltered viewing is safe. It happens when the Moon is in the more distant part of its orbit and looks too small to hide the solar disk.
When can I take the eclipse glasses off?
Never, during this one. From first contact to last, including the fully formed ring, ISO 12312-2 certified glasses are required. A low Sun near the horizon feels gentler to look at, but the damaging radiation is still there, so the rule does not relax at sunset.
Where in Spain is it visible?
The path crosses Portugal and southern Spain, with Seville the best-known city on it. Elsewhere in Spain only a partial eclipse is visible. Because the European leg coincides with sunset, securing a site with a clear western horizon matters more than anything else you can prepare.
When is the next annular eclipse?
On 1 June 2030 an annular eclipse crosses North Africa, Greece and Siberia and finishes at sunset over eastern Hokkaido, and another follows in 2031. Annular eclipses are not rarer than total ones overall, but for any given location the wait between them is still measured in decades.
Related
- The great eclipse of 2027 over Egypt
- The 2028 total eclipse over Sydney
- The 2030 annular eclipse over Hokkaido
- The Sun — object index
- The Moon — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.