Total Solar Eclipse on August 12, Partial Over Serbia
NASA confirms a total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, with the path of totality crossing Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Serbia and the rest of Europe get a partial eclipse, right before the Perseids peak.
- A total solar eclipse happens on August 12, 2026, with the path of totality cutting across Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
- In Serbia and the rest of Europe it will be visible only as a partial eclipse, so no full darkness and no corona.
- The event lines up with the Perseids peak around August 12 and 13, making that night worth staying out for.
- Never look at the Sun with the naked eye, certified eclipse glasses are a must.
Will you see day turn into night from Serbia on August 12? No, but you will see the Moon take a solid bite out of the Sun, and that is reason enough to grab your glasses and look up.
NASA has confirmed the date. On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse takes place, the first to touch mainland Europe in a long while. The Moon will line up exactly between the Earth and the Sun and cast a shadow that races across the planet. The catch is geography. The path of totality, the narrow strip where the Sun vanishes completely and the corona appears, runs over Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. Serbia falls outside that strip.
What exactly do we see from Serbia?
Here it will be a partial eclipse. That means the Moon covers part of the Sun’s disk, but not all of it, so there is no moment of full midday darkness and none of that bare corona you see in the photo at the top of this article. The sky will not fall into night, the light will just dim a little, the way it does when a thick cloud rolls in.
That does not mean there is nothing to see. A partial eclipse is still a sight. The Sun takes on a bitten, crescent shape, and if you have proper protection, the whole thing from start to finish lasts more than an hour. For most people who have never watched an eclipse, this alone is a good enough reason to be outside that evening.
The key word is protection. You do not look at the Sun with the naked eye, not during a partial eclipse, not ever. Regular sunglasses do nothing here and can cause serious eye damage. You need dedicated solar viewing glasses with a certified filter, or you project the Sun’s image through a simple pinhole in cardboard. The same goes for telescopes and binoculars, which need a proper solar filter on the front.
Why is this August worth going outside for?
Because two things happen at once. The eclipse is during the day, and that same night, around August 12 and 13, the Perseid meteor shower is at its peak. That is the shower that produces a rain of shooting stars every summer, and it is one of the most reliable of the year.
The combination is convenient. During the day you watch the Moon bite into the Sun, and once it gets dark, if you are away from city lights and the sky is clear, you can catch the Perseids. For the Perseids you need no equipment at all, just a dark spot, a little patience while your eyes adjust, and a view away from street lamps. Our tip is to scout a location outside the city in advance, since light pollution in Belgrade and other cities swallows most of the fainter meteors.
The date is fixed and will not move, so it is worth writing down. August 12, solar glasses during the day, a blanket and a dark sky for the Perseids at night. If nothing else, it is a nice excuse to step away from the screens for one evening. So will you watch the partial eclipse with protection, or hold out just for the Perseids that night?
