The 12 August 2026 partial solar eclipse as seen from the Isle of Wight

On Wednesday 12 August 2026, the Isle of Wight, located off the coast of southern England, experienced a partial solar eclipse. This event took place between around 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. BST, with over 90% of the Sun's disc obscured from view. The clear summer weather in the UK allowed for widespread clear skies, providing ideal conditions for this rare, immersive mass-engagement with physics.

Many individuals had procured eclipse glasses in advance or utilized kitchen cupboards to create shadow patterns. Public awareness of the eclipse was bolstered by professional and amateur astronomical societies, who had spread information through mainstream and social media. Consequently, people gathered on west-facing hills, parks, and village greens, equipped with folding chairs, smartphones, cameras, telescopes, and colanders, to enjoy the spectacle over a picnic tea.

While the eclipse was deepest in Cornwall, the Isle of Wight was chosen as the observation location. The photographer, who employs traditional visual observation methods, captured the eclipse sequence using a 20-year-old Meade ETX-90 telescope, an equatorial mount, and a battery-powered drive. A solar filter and a 25 mm focal-length eyepiece were utilized in eyepiece-projection mode to photograph the event with a 5 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot CCD digital camera.

Manual image processing and minimal post-processing were employed to correct sensor shadowing and adjust for atmospheric absorption and exposure changes.