Solar Eclipse Over Poland: What Happened and Where

The news in Polish

1. zaćmienie  (n.)
   zjawisko astronomiczne, gdy jeden obiekt niebieński zasłania inny, np. Księżyc zasłania Słońce ↩︎
2. zasłonić
   przykryć coś tak, żeby nie było widać, zakryć widok czegoś ↩︎
3. procent  (m.)
   jedna setna część całości, używana do wyrażania proporcji lub części czegoś ↩︎
4. ostrzegać
   informować kogoś o niebezpieczeństwie lub ryzyku, żeby mógł się chronić ↩︎
5. niebezpieczny
   mogące spowodować krzywdę, szkodę lub nieszczęście ↩︎
6. całkowity
   obejmujący wszystko, zupełny, bez żadnych wyjątków ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: In which two cities in western Poland was over 86 per cent of the Sun covered during the partial solar eclipse?

Question 2: In which year will the next total solar eclipse occur?

Vocabulary

Polish	English
zaćmienie  (n.)	eclipse
zasłonić	to cover
procent  (m.)	percent
ostrzegać	to warn
niebezpieczny	dangerous
całkowity	total

Read the full story

A partial solar eclipse was visible across Poland on the evening of 12 August, offering skygazers a striking astronomical spectacle as the Sun was setting. The event was part of a wider eclipse that began at 17:34 over the Bering Sea and lasted 264 minutes globally, ending above the Balearic Islands in Spain.

The path of totality — where the Moon completely blocked the Sun — began on the Taymyr Peninsula in northern Russia and passed over the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, and Iceland before crossing the Atlantic and reaching northern Spain and a small part of Portugal. The longest period of totality occurred at the Látrabjarg cliffs in Iceland, lasting 2 minutes and 13 seconds, with the eclipse reaching its global maximum there at 19:46. In Spain, totality was visible across roughly 40 per cent of the country, with the best conditions near León and Burgos, where totality lasted close to 1 minute and 45 seconds. Western Europe had not witnessed a total solar eclipse for nearly 30 years.

In Poland, the eclipse was partial but still deeply impressive in many areas. According to the Polish Astronomical Society’s Astronomical Almanac for 2026, the eclipse began between 19:10 and 19:20 depending on location. The most dramatic coverage was seen in western and northern Poland: in the Kłodzko Valley, 88 per cent of the solar disc was obscured. In Szczecin, Poznań, and Wrocław, the maximum phase exceeded 86 per cent. In the Bieszczady mountains in the south-east, the figure was around 42 per cent. In many regions, the Sun dipped below the horizon before the eclipse reached its peak.

In the Tatra Mountains, tourists watched the eclipse from Kasprowy Wierch, with the Sun disappearing behind the Giewont massif and Kopa Kondracka ridge. On the beach at Krynica Morska in the Pomerania region, hundreds of residents and tourists gathered on blankets and sun loungers to follow the event, with good visibility reported throughout.

Experts warned that looking directly at the Sun during a partial eclipse remains dangerous. Dr Paweł Janowski, a science communicator from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, cautioned that unprotected viewing can cause permanent retinal damage. He recommended certified eclipse glasses meeting the ISO 12312-2 standard, or the projection method, where the Sun’s image is cast onto a sheet of paper. He stressed that CDs, smoked glass, sunglasses, and photographic film do not provide adequate protection.

The next total solar eclipse visible from southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen is expected on 2 August 2027, with a maximum duration of 6 minutes and 23 seconds.