Sam
12 Aug 2026
On 12th August we witnessed a partial solar eclipse here in Cornwall!
On Wednesday 12th August one of those rare astronomical phenomena happened – a solar eclipse! Even better, here in Cornwall was one of the best places to see it in the British Isles! Whilst we didn’t get a complete eclipse, it did get to almost 96% obscuration.
A solar eclipse, for those who might not know, is where the Moon orbiting the Earth happens to pass directly in front of the Sun. It is one of those amazing cosmic coincidences though, that whilst the Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, it just so happens to be 400 times further away. This means that from out perspective here on Earth they appear to be the same size. Furthermore, it means that when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun it completely obscures it.
The Moon effectively casts a giant shadow over a bit of the Earth (you can see some amazing imagery of this happening). Not all of the planet gets an eclipse at the same time, and total eclipses only happen globally every 1-2 years. So seeing one at all in the place you live is quite rare. To give you an idea, the next time we will be able to see another total solar eclipse here in Cornwall won’t be until the end of the century!
I remember well the total eclipse we had in Cornwall in August 1999. I also remember it being overcast… we couldn’t see a thing (it did get dark though and the seagulls went nuts!). Weather forecast for 12th August 2026 though – perfect sunshine!
Jenna, Eleanor, and I went down to our local beach with some food and wine for it. The eclipse reached its peak around 19:15 so perfect for dinner on the beach and a swim after!
It was amazing. It didn’t get as dark as with a total eclipse (it is amazing how much that 4% of sunlight can light up!). But it wasn’t like normal twilight. It felt more like a tinted filter filmmakers use when portraying another planet. I took some okay ish photos that I will post below. The trusty eclipse glasses worked a treat, and it was so good just to watch the crescent Sun become smaller and smaller.
I hope you managed to see it. I love the science behind it, but most of all I love how small it makes us feel. These incredible natural phenomena that tell us of our place in this universe. A unique moment in time that we happened to be around for. Maybe I’ll be around for the next one… if I make it to three figures!
