Videos show what sky gazers saw when watching the solar eclipse
People across parts of Europe were looking to the skies on Wednesday to observe a stellar spectacle: a total solar eclipse.
The rare total solar eclipse swept across parts of Europe, darkening the sky along a narrow path of totality. The European Space Agency reported the eclipse’s totality path across northern Spain, a small corner of northeastern Portugal and a portion of Iceland.
However, millions of Americans in parts of the northern U.S. — as well as folks in Canada and northwestern Africa and other European countries that weren’t in the path of totality — were also looking up as some states were able to see a rare partial solar eclipse.
The next total solar eclipse will occur on Aug. 2, 2027, and it will be visible in southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Whether you didn’t look up or were in an area where the eclipse couldn’t be seen, here is a look at what skygazers saw and experienced on Wednesday.
In the video player at the top: The European Space Agency captured this footage as the total eclipse passed over Europe
An eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on the planet.
CNN reports that the total solar eclipse was the first one visible from mainland Europe in more than two decades.
The excitement kicked off in a remote part of northern Russia where totality occurred midday local time. Skygazers in Greenland and Iceland experienced the longest duration of totality — about 2 minutes and 15 seconds — in the late afternoon and early evening.
Video below: Total solar eclipse darkens the sky in Ólafsvík, Iceland
Spain sees first total eclipse since 2005 as Europe darkens
In Spain, the event marked the country’s first total solar eclipse since May 19, 2005.
Spain and the northeastern tip of Portugal witnessed a rare spectacle as totality, which lasted just under 2 minutes, occurred right before sunset. In León, Spain, totality began at 8:28 p.m. local time and ended at 8:30 p.m.
Video below: The total solar eclipse as seen from Bragança, Portugal
New England’s view of partial solar eclipse
The partial eclipse occurred in the morning for those in Alaska and northern Canada, in the afternoon for the northern U.S. and eastern Canada, and in the evening for viewers in the U.K., Ireland, Africa and mainland Europe, where the sunset eclipse phenomenon took place.
For those living outside of the path of totality, a crescent-shaped partial eclipse, rather than a total eclipse, was the main event.
The amount of exposed sunlight depended on how close viewers live to the path of totality.
Partial eclipse for Boston
Boston got a glimpse of a partial solar eclipse Wednesday afternoon, when the moon covered a portion of the sun.
Hearst Television station WCVB reports that the partial eclipse did not noticeably darken the skies over New England, but it was visible through eclipse safety glasses. At the peak over Boston, around 1:55 p.m., about 16% of the sun was covered.
Partial eclipse for New Hampshire
A partial solar eclipse could be observed in New Hampshire, with the sun most obscured in northern communities. It started around 12:55 p.m. and ended around 2:45 p.m.
The sun was mostly obscured in Britain
The Associated Press reports that across Britain, where the sun was more than 90% obscured, people flocked to hilltop parks and anywhere with an open view of the sky to see the best eclipse since 1999.
In Greenwich Park, with views of the River Thames and central London, the sky turned an eerie gray as a sliver of light sat atop the moon like a hat.
Video below: Partial solar eclipse seen from Royal Observatory Greenwich in London
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CNN, the Associated Press, and Hearst Television stations WCVB and WMUR contributed to this report