Total eclipse — across Europe (1999)

The 20th century's last totality ran from Cornwall to India — 350 million people stood in or near the path.

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The story

On 11 August 1999 the shadow of the twentieth century's last total eclipse rose out of the Atlantic and crossed Cornwall, northern France, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey before setting over the Bay of Bengal. The path ran straight through Europe's population centres, and counting partial phases more than 300 million people saw it — a record at the time.

Munich and Stuttgart fought the clouds. Cornwall was mostly overcast, northern France saw totality flicker between clouds, and the area near Bucharest in Romania got both the maximum (2 minutes 23 seconds) and clear skies. In Munich the clouds parted just before totality for 2 minutes 8 seconds of black Sun.

It was the first eclipse to paralyse roads across a continent. The BBC broadcast live from Cornwall, hundreds of thousands gathered before the Eiffel Tower, and German autobahns jammed with cars heading south toward the path. The eclipse-tourism industry was effectively born that day.

The European power grid recorded a sharp swing in demand at totality. Solar generation was negligible then, but the data became the starting point of "eclipse and grid" studies; grid preparations for the eclipses of 2015 and 2026 trace back to that record. The sky view replay shows the alignment over Munich.

Why it matters

The 1999 eclipse was the first demonstration of how large a public astronomical event can become. Earlier total eclipses belonged to expeditions and enthusiasts; that day a whole continent looked up at the same moment. The 2017 American eclipse's "88 percent of the population saw it" was a repeat of this day on another continent.

Scientifically it was the last chance to photograph the corona widely from the ground at solar maximum (1999–2001). With SOHO and other space coronagraphs taking over continuous coverage, ground-based eclipse work has since concentrated on the inner corona — the region coronagraphs block out.

Eclipse glasses became standard that day. Criticism that Britain's health authorities overdid the "do not look" campaign sits alongside the finding that safe filters increased the number of observers, and the balance struck then still shapes eclipse publicity.

How to watch

Choose the 1999 eclipse in the sky view's event list to replay totality over Munich at 12:38 local time on 11 August — the black Sun and corona high in the southern sky with Venus and Mercury appearing beside it. Move the location to Bucharest for the geometry at the point of greatest eclipse.

The next eclipse of the same Saros series (145) was the 2017 American eclipse, and the one after is the total eclipse of 2 September 2035 over northern Korea and Japan. Both can be jumped to in the sky view to compare the corona's orientation and the Sun's altitude.

The orbit view's event replay shows the Moon sliding exactly between Sun and Earth on 11 August 1999 and the shadow cone brushing across Europe.

See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view

Background

The eclipse was the 21st member of Saros 145. The series' 31 July 1981 eclipse crossed Siberia, its 21 August 2017 eclipse crossed the United States, and on 2 September 2035 it will cross northern China, North Korea and Japan.

Nostradamus's line about "the seventh month of 1999, from the sky will come a great King of Terror" was tied to the eclipse and fed apocalyptic rumours. Romania issued a commemorative 2,000-lei banknote — Europe's first polymer note.

Cosmonauts aboard the Mir space station photographed the Moon's shadow moving across Europe from orbit — a rare picture of the dark circle, barely 100 km wide, crossing the surface of Earth.

The path of 11 August 1999 came ashore in Cornwall at 10:10 UT from the Atlantic and ran through Normandy, north of Paris, Luxembourg, Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg, south of Budapest, Bucharest and across the Black Sea to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. The path was about 110 km wide and the shadow moved at nearly 3,000 km/h over Europe. Ending at sunset in eastern India, the shadow raced across the Earth for a little over three hours.

FAQ

How long was totality?

2 minutes 23 seconds at most (Romania), 2 minutes 8 seconds in Munich.

Where was it seen best?

Romania, Hungary and Turkey had clear skies; Cornwall and northern France were mostly cloudy.

Why was it the most-watched?

The path crossed the population centres of Europe, the Middle East and India; counting partial phases, more than 300 million people saw it.

What is the next eclipse of the series?

The 2017 American eclipse; the next is 2 September 2035 over northern Korea and Japan.

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Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.