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Feb. 17 Annular Solar Eclipse Confined to Antarctica, With Spain Preparing for August Totality

Agencies have finalized timings and safety guidance as Mexico looks instead to a total lunar eclipse on March 3 and authorities ready broader logistics for major 2026–2027 sky events.

Overview

  • NASA’s trajectory confirms the Feb. 17 annular phase—the “ring of fire”—will be visible only from parts of Antarctica, with the event starting near 09:56 UTC and peaking around 12:12 UTC.
  • Meteorological permitting, only limited partial phases will reach portions of the southern oceans and far southern Africa and South America, and no phase will be visible from Mexico.
  • Mexico’s next widely viewable event is a total lunar eclipse on March 3, which is safe to observe without eye protection and should be visible across much of the country.
  • Spain is ramping operations for the Aug. 12, 2026 total solar eclipse, with an interministerial commission and DGT traffic measures; Oviedo is projected to have Spain’s longest totality at about 1 minute 48 seconds.
  • Looking ahead, the Aug. 2, 2027 total solar eclipse is expected to be the century’s longest, exceeding six minutes of totality along a path from the Atlantic across North Africa and the Middle East to the Indian Ocean, according to NASA.