Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland captured in stunning photo

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day on August 14, 2026 featured Aditya Madhavan’s photograph of the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse from Greenland. The image, captured at 17:33:26 UTC, shows the Moon fully covering the Sun, with the solar corona and a transient diamond ring visible through a break in the clouds.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon’s shadow touches Earth’s surface along a narrow path. The August 12 eclipse’s path began in the Arctic Ocean and crossed parts of Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Portugal, and northern Spain. Madhavan dodged weather by sea and landed along Rype Fjord on Greenland’s east coast at 71.07055N, 27.71252W. That location was near the first clearing along the path, so the photo is likely one of the first unobstructed views of the totally eclipsed Sun.

Astronomy Picture of the Day is a service of ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation, and Michigan Tech University. Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, and Keighley Rockcliffe wrote and edited the entry. The previous day’s APOD featured a total solar eclipse over Spain, and the following day’s picture was noted as possibly featuring a Perseid meteor.