eclipse

If you are going to see the eclipse on August 12, science needs you

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The Generalitat of Catalonia, the Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) and the Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR) have just announced a citizen science initiative aimed at analyzing how a total solar eclipse affects the health and physiology of human beings. There is enough data on how they affect these astronomical phenomena to other animals, but there is hardly any information about humans. For this reason, these institutions have launched the Solaris application, with which they hope to gather around 5,000 people to participate in a study whose results will be known at the end of September. The requirements. To participate in this citizen science project A series of requirements must be met. First of all, you need to download the Solaris application and have a smartwatch or any similar activity device that measures, at a minimum, heart rate. Data must be taken for five consecutive days: the two days before the solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, the day of the eclipse and the two days after. It is important that the recordings have time references and, also, that intense exercise is not practiced during the measurements. What you want to measure. Mainly, those responsible for this research are interested in knowing how experiencing a solar eclipse affects heart rate and respiratory rate. Two important factors coincide in this type of event. On the one hand, the excitement of seeing something newwhich on many occasions has never been witnessed. And, on the other, the incoherence of a short dusk in the middle of the day. The fact that light disappears when it is not appropriate and then appears again a few minutes later can affect the mechanisms involved in circadian rhythms. It is true that it is something very specific, but it would be interesting to see if detectable effects actually occur at a physiological level. The results. The total solar eclipse will take place on August 12. Once the application is synchronized with the smart watch, the data reaches the researchers directly, thanks to OneCareAI technology, which allows data to be collected safely and anonymously. Once all the data has been collected, it will be processed to carry out a first draft of the study, which will be made public at the end of September. It won’t take long for participants to know the results. And what about the animals? There is a lot of information documented on how a total solar eclipse affects animals. For example, it has been seen that birds sing a lot, dogs bark and cattle go to the stables, only to return to the pasture again. Activity has also been detected in nocturnal animals, such as bats or some birds. When daylight comes, they return to their hiding places, clearly confused. It has even been documented how eclipses affect some plants, which normally tend to open their flowers at night. Although it is not yet time, we often see how the flowers are seen ahead of time due to the darkness. Beyond all this, we have no idea how the solar eclipse will affect ourselves. Thanks to this Catalan study, we will have information for the first time. Nothing like it has ever been done in the entire world. Do you dare to participate? Image | Magnificent In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

If you don’t have glasses for the solar eclipse, this homemade box made with cardboard and aluminum foil works just as well.

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If you plan to see the solar eclipse on August 12, you will surely have already been researching methods to see it safely. To look directly at the Sun, x-rays, photographic negatives or any of the tricks that were recommended in the past are not useful. We can hurt our eyes a lot. Only approved glasses are valid. However, if you do not have or do not want to buy them, you can always resort to indirect methods, such as pinhole camera. It is an ideal method to use with children, since you can see the solar eclipse without risk And, what’s more, they have a good time making the box. Of course, it is a perfect plan to do as a family. We tell you everything you need to do it. Materials The materials to make the pinhole camera are very simple. First of all, you need a cardboard box. It may be worth an empty cereal container or shoe box. You also need a white piece of paper, a piece of aluminum foil, tape, a pencil, scissors and a thumbtack. How is the pinhole camera made? To make the pinhole camera, first we need to draw one of the shortest sides of the cardboard box on the sheet of paper. For example, the base of the cereal box. We place it on the sheet of paper, draw the outline and then cut it out. We must glue the resulting piece of paper inside, on the bottom of the box. Next, at the opposite end of the box, two square-shaped holes should be made. If we have a cereal box, which has that side open, we would have to glue a piece of cardboard in the middle, so that the two square openings on the sides can be seen. In this NASA publication there is a video that shows how it should look.. Then, cover one of the openings with aluminum foil secured with adhesive tape. Also, make a small hole in the center of the aluminum foil with a thumbtack. With this the pinhole camera would be ready. How to use it to view the solar eclipse? To use the pinhole camera we must position ourselves with our backs to the sun and look through the hole that doesn’t have aluminum foil. The sun’s rays enter through the small hole in the aluminum foil, which acts as if it were the lens of a camera, so that the image behind it is projected on the blank paper that we place at the bottom of the box. It should be noted that, logically, this device only works during partial solar eclipse. When totality is reached and the Moon completely covers the Sun, there is hardly any light that can enter through the hole, so there will be no projections to look at. The good thing is that, only during that totality, you can look at the sun directly, without glasses. Of course, you have to be very clear when the totality begins and when it ends, since with very little light we can damage our retinas. In short, this is a good way to indirectly see the partial solar eclipse without the need for approved glasses. If you are in one of the places within the band of totality, once it begins, you can look at the Sun directly, but be careful not to go too far. Unless you are in a town like Lerín, where The bells will ring to warn when totality begins and endsget away from the slightest ray that appears. Image | POT In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

Finding approved glasses to see the eclipse is more complex than it seems: here is a guide

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The total solar eclipse on August 12 will be the first in peninsular Spain since 1912. However, many Spaniards have already seen the occasional partial eclipse. Although we are ashamed, many of us also have memories of having looked at the sun through an x-ray, in the absence of approved glasses. There were many myths about it and it used to be said that this measure was enough to protect the eyes. A very dangerous statement that left more than one person with sore eyes. Nowadays, luckily, there is much more information and we know that, to look directly at the sun, only glasses approved for eclipses are valid. The problem is that, as with everything, there will be people who try to profit by selling at a lower price some glasses that, in reality, do not meet adequate safety standards. Therefore, it is very important that we, as users, know what we should look at. Make sure they are approved. Approved glasses must contain the inscription: EN ISO 12312-2:2015. In addition, if you buy in the European Union, the CE marking must also be visible. On the other hand, there is certain information that must always be included: the name of the manufacturer, instructions on its safe use and conservation instructions. All of this should be included on the packaging or instructions. Make sure they are not broken. Your glasses may be approved and suitable for eclipses, but they may be damaged. If this is the case, they can be equally harmful to the eyes. That’s why, you should check that the filter is not scratched, loose or bent, and also that some areas are not lighter than others. In general, if you see any signs of deterioration in the area covering the eyes, you should look for others. Be careful where you buy. As long as all of these criteria are met, it doesn’t matter where you buy your eclipse glasses. However, it is true that if you buy them from planetariums, astronomical associations or scientific entities, they are more likely to be reliable. No, sunglasses don’t work. It may seem intuitive to us to wear sunglasses. After all, they are made to protect the eyes from solar radiation. However, direct and indirect solar radiation are not the same, especially when the direct radiation occurs under the conditions of an eclipse. Sunglasses meet their own safety criteria for protect us from scattered lightbut not to look directly at the king star. In fact, they can increase the risk, since they don’t block as much UV radiation as eclipse glasses, but enough so that we don’t have to squint. We will have them wide open and those radiations from which they do not protect us will be able to penetrate and affect us more. It doesn’t matter if 99% of the sun is covered. Even if there is only 1% of the sun visible, it is important to use approved glasses. The problem with eclipses is that, since there is a certain darkness, we do not blink or squint as much as we would when looking directly at the sun, so we do not have that perception of danger, but we do run the risk of damaging our retinas. Therefore, always check that your glasses are well approved. This way you can enjoy the eclipse safely. Image | Astroclubkosova In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

I wanted to know the closest place to go see the eclipse. So I programmed an AI app to look for it

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Next August 12 I will be in Madrid, and that is a problem. And it is because Madrid will not be the optimal place to see the astronomical event of the century: the solar eclipse that that day will have millions of people watching the sky around 8:30 p.m. My idea is to go see it with my family in a location where it can be seen in its entirety for as long as possible, but I would also like not to go too far. There is tools such as those of the National Geographic Institute They tell us what the eclipse will look like in each location, but I didn’t want to know that, but rather where to go to see it taking into account distance and travel time. There may be tools that do something like this that I haven’t found, but yesterday, when thinking about the idea, I realized that I could actually try to make my own tool. AI models and platforms such as Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, or OpenCode have already shown that almost anyone can turn an idea into an app, and as you know I was already amazed by the possibilities. Why not try it? That’s just what I did. Try it. I told it yesterday on my personal blogand I also wanted to share the experience here. The first thing was to find out if something like this was feasible. There are several ways to solve that, but I tend to go with the “Deep Investigation” modes offered by current models. I wanted to try ChatGPT in its free version, which offers this possibility, and I made my proposal to him to find out if it was possible. After eight minutes going through sources on the internet, he presented me with a really complete “executive summary” in which he confirmed, among other things, that there was a good set of data sources that I could use for the application: the IGN and the National Observatory, for example, have public resources with a CC-BY license, there are astronomical APIs such as OPALE (IMCCE) either USNO/APODwhile for routes to destination it suggested OSRMa fantastic and open platform for this type of function. GLM-5.2 program like angels With that information under my power, I began development with the AI ​​platforms and models that I have been using lately. This was also a perfect opportunity to test how it behaved the GLM-5.2 model from Z.ai. I have been subscribed to the platform for a few months—I took advantage of an offer at the end of last year—and now that they have launched this model I have been testing it with small experiments. The performance seemed fantastic and certainly close to what the Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.5 offer, so This was a fantastic opportunity to see how GLM-5.2 solved the problem.. What I did was create a directory on my Mac mini M4 (original name, “eclipse”), go into it and launch Claude Code preselecting the model I intended to use (claude –model glm-5.2). Once the AI ​​agent was started for scheduling, I explained my conversation with ChatGPT, copied the executive summary, and gave him some more guidelines to start planning everything. The conversation about the development of the project was long and GLM-5.2 ended up compacting it, but I asked him to show me a summary of that original plan. This was the idea. GLM-5.2 is a model that “thinks” quite a bit, and I like that it does: it makes the responses much more precise and complete in my experience, so even that first plan took a few minutes to get ready. When he presented it I thought everything was fantastic. I reviewed it, but I’m not a developer, so I simply relied on GLM-5.2 when choosing technical options for the entire project and looked more at the requirements and objectives that the plan established. I didn’t capture that part of the conversation and since I ended up “conversing” quite a bit later, Claude Code and GLM-5.2 compacted the conversation to avoid excessive token consumption. Even so, I have now asked him to show me what he had saved in that compaction, and that screenshot above shows a little what the idea for the development was. Everything seemed perfect, I insist, so I told Claude Code / GLM-5.2 to get going. And boy did he do it: spent 42 minutes creating and editing files without me having to intervene at all. When he finished (again, I didn’t take a screenshot of the terminal) he showed me a summary of what he had done, and told me how I could test the project. A few small commands in a separate terminal window to launch the web application and voila: I could now see the project in my browser. The first look left me stunned: the thing was promising. This is what I saw when I first opened the project in my browser. Some mistakes, yes, but nothing bad. I found the interface spectacular, but after a few seconds I began to detect errors. The “Distance” shown in the “Journey” part was unrealistic, and the locations chosen from Madrid were much further away than I had assumed. For some reason I had made some incorrect decisions when choosing these locations, so I started “chatting” with GLM-5.2 in Claude Code to correct everything. That process was entertaining and trivial: I told him what was wrong (“you are showing very distant destinations, a good option for example from Madrid is Lerma and you don’t show it”), and from there GLM-5.2 thought and thought to make its modifications. He presented them to me, I reviewed them and started again. After three or four attempts and another half hour of tests, things were already very clear. The recommendations from Madrid were great, and I considered several options in which I prioritized time to arrive (highway/highway) over distance, and of course, time of totality of the eclipse: the closer you get … Read more

Puertomingalvo, the Teruel town of 130 inhabitants, has been without free beds for the eclipse for more than a year

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The solar eclipse on August 12 will be an ideal opportunity to go sightseeing in places where we normally would not do so. There are many people who have chosen to organize their vacations around this great astronomical eventwhose entire strip will not precisely cross the most tourist places in Spain. It will not pass through Benidorm, the Canary Islands or the Costa del Sol. Yes, it will be seen in some fairly touristy spots on the Balearic Islands, but little else. Mostly it will discharge all its splendor in the famous emptied Spain. The Sun rulesso many people who possibly would not have had these destinations among their options for summer vacations have decided to enter these small towns and discover all their charm. Because, logically, there will be a lot to do beyond seeing the eclipse, whose totality will not last two minutes. Castilla León, Navarra and Aragón, for example, are home to many interesting towns to take advantage of the day of the eclipse and the days before and after it. For example, many people will choose to see it in Puertomingalvo, a beautiful Teruel town in which all its accommodations posted the full sign for these dates more than a year ago. Although it is not necessary to stay directly in the town to enjoy everything it has to offer. A changing population preparing for the great solar eclipse As it could not be otherwise, to get to know the town of Puertomingalvo a little better I have contacted Manuel Vázquez, the guide in charge of your Tourist Office. He says that, although there are currently about 130 people registered in this town in the Gúdar Javalambre regionin summer it is usually around 600 people. There are many second homes where some people who moved to Castellón or other more industrialized cities travel in summer in search of work. But there are also 11 accommodations that have been full for more than a year. It is true that in summer it is always full, but reservations for August usually begin to close in June, not a year in advance. Furthermore, Vázquez is a lover of statistics, so he has been studying the searches that have been made on the Puertomingalvo website. Thus, he has observed that, although last year searches in French stood out, this year they have far surpassed them in searches in Spanish. That does not mean that the town did not have national tourism. He had, and a lot. But maybe they were people who didn’t have to search the town. Now, thanks to the eclipse, there are many more Spaniards who have been interested in getting to know it. Hermitage of Saint Barbara of Nicomedia For all this, the Government of Aragon has also been preparing this and other nearby towns for a year for what is to come. “From the Government of Aragon they send us talks and information about how to use approved glasses“, prevent fires, etc.,” says Vázquez. “We are dedicated to informing anyone who needs it about the eclipse.” The town is located at 1,456 meters high and it has a very clear sky. Additionally, according to Vázquez, there has only been one summer storm around that time in recent years. Generally the skies are usually clear, so the weather will most likely behave when the day arrives. Much more than an eclipse The eclipse will be an ideal occasion for many people who did not even know Puertomingalvo to venture inside its medieval walls. In summer, with its population quintupled, the town bustles with a very complete program of festivals. “The schedule for August is crazy,” celebrates the tour guide. “Last year they made more than 100 activities in 30 days and this year many activities are also expected.” In short, people who decide to take advantage of the eclipse to visit Puertomingalvo will have a good program of activities. But, in addition, you will enjoy many places to visit. And, despite its small size, Puertomingalvo has a lot of heritage. It is part of the Association of the most beautiful towns in Spain and in 1982 It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Historical-Artistic Complex. Upon arrival, the visitor can enjoy observing its walls, but inside the art and history do not end. The Castle stands out, where you can arrange a private visit, as well as the Town Hall building and the hermitages. All these buildings are from Civil Gothic and were built between the 14th and 16th centuries. You can also visit the Church of the Purification and San Blas, El Hospicio Poma, the laundries and the Hospital for the Poor, which has currently been converted into a hostel and library. On the other hand, Casa Llorens stands out, a very well preserved palatial house, which was built between the 16th and 17th centuries. Sport and Nature In the surroundings of the town there are numerous hiking trails which can be visited on foot, by bicycle or even on horseback. It is an ideal way to enjoy nature and sports at any time of the year. In summer, without a doubt, one of the most recommended is the Cascada del Arquero route, since you can end it with a swim in the river, ideal for the heat. Outside the town, you can also visit the remains of the Iberian town of Los Castillejos. In short, history, nature and the sky come together in a perfect combo for a different vacation. Puertomingalvo is a great location to observe the solar eclipse, but also to delight in everything it has to offer, both this year and whenever we decide to visit. Image | Pabloandr85, Juan Emilio Prades Bel In Xataka | Between 2026 and 2028 Spain will become an eclipse paradise. And we have new maps to know where they will look best

We know exactly where and when the longest solar eclipse in history will occur: our great-great-grandchildren will see it

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On July 16, 2186, the Moon will align perfectly between the Earth and the Sun, creating an eclipse without historical precedent. Unless he eccentric millionaire determined to rejuvenate succeed, none of us will be here to see it. But our descendants will want to spend that day somewhere in Colombia, Venezuela or Guyana. 7 minutes and 29 seconds. The longest total solar eclipse in history will exceed by almost two seconds the duration of the one that held the record until now: the eclipse of June 15, 743 BC, which reached a totality of 7 minutes and 27 seconds over the Indian Ocean, near present-day Kenya and Somalia. No eclipse will have lasted as long from before 4000 BCand none will do so until after 8000 AD, so we can be sure that it will be a truly unique astronomical event. The longest total solar eclipse in an interval of 12,000 years. The Moon will darken South America. The historic solar eclipse of 7 minutes and 29 seconds will not occur on land: the strip of totality will reach its longest duration over the Atlantic Ocean. However, northern South America will also enjoy extraordinarily long totalities. Especially in Colombia (from Cali to Puerto Ayacucho), Venezuela (from the Orinoco to Imataca) and Guyana (in the entire northern half of the country, including Georgetown). The show will not be limited to that narrow strip. Virtually all of South America, including the entire Brazilian territory, will be able to observe a partial eclipse of great magnitude. The eclipse will also be partially visible from Mexico to Paraguay, and west of Africa. In Spain it will barely touch the Canary Islands at sunset. Why will it last so long? The reason for this extreme duration is a “perfect storm” in the positions of the three bodies. The Earth will be at its furthest point from the Sun (its aphelion), which will make the solar disk appear slightly smaller. The Moon, for its part, will be at its closest point to the Earth (its perigee), so its apparent disk will be larger. And finally, the path of the eclipse will pass very close to the Earth’s equator. This combination maximizes the time it takes for the Moon’s shadow to sweep across the Earth’s surface. How are we so sure? Eclipse prediction is one of the most successful feats of computational astronomy. Scientists feed their supercomputers the current positions and velocities of the Earth and Moon, and then use Newton’s laws of motion to figure out what will happen several centuries or even millennia from now. These algorithms are actually models that integrate gravitational equations to project their positions into the future. And they do it with astonishing precision, usually within a margin of error of less than a minute over hundreds of years. First cousin of the great eclipse of 2024. The total solar eclipse of 2186 belongs to the same “lineage” as the Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024, the Saros cycle 139. A Saros cycle is a period of approximately 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours, after which the Sun-Earth-Moon geometry is repeated in an almost identical way, producing a very similar eclipse but displaced about 120 degrees to the west. Discussions among eclipse enthusiasts are already fantasizing about what the hunt for this event will be like in 2186. There is talk of fleets of cruise ships positioned in the Atlantic and flights in hypersonic planes to chase the shadow and further extend the experience of totality. Although we will not see the millennium eclipse, there is no need to wait that long to experience a totality: on August 12, 2026, Spain will chain the first of three Iberian eclipses. They are not the “wonders of the cosmos”, but we cannot complain. A version of this article was published in July 2025 Image | THAT In Xataka | Two European spacecraft synchronized in space to create an artificial eclipse. It is a before and after in solar science

so we can see the August solar eclipse

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Next August 12 you can see the new solar eclipseand it is especially relevant because we have not seen such a spectacular eclipse since 1912. That is why we must be careful when it comes to seeing it and choosing glasses that are approved. Okay, but… what glasses should I buy? Stores like El Corte Inglés did not want to miss this event and have added some other approved glasses to their catalog, being Hawkers one of the most interesting. The reason is that they can be purchased in the online store for only 3.99 euros. Hawkers, approved glasses for solar eclipses The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The new Hawkers are intended for solar eclipses Hawkers glasses are approved with regulations ISO 12312-2which is basically a specific international certification for direct sun observation filters. In addition, it is worth mentioning that they are manufactured in Spain, thus ensuring the traceability and quality of the materials. The funny thing is that these glasses are designed to be comfortable, and they are The temples can be folded and the frame can be adjusted to make them more ergonomic. Furthermore, as the brand mentions, these glasses have a useful life of 10 years from their manufacture, so they will serve you for a long time. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that Not all Autonomous Communities will see the solar eclipse in the same way. We invite you to take a look at the eclipse map to know what it will look like in your neighborhood or city. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Hawkers glasses for solar eclipses ✅ THE BEST Adjustment levels: allows you to adjust both the temples and the frame so that they are comfortable. Its useful life: The glasses have a useful life of 10 years from their manufacture. They are approved. ❌ THE WORST Shipping costs: They cost more (5.90 euros) than the glasses themselves. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want to see the next solar eclipse and are looking for approved glasses to see it. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You find the glasses in another store where you do not have to pay shipping costs, or they are lower. You may also be interested Galaxium 12x Solar Eclipse Glasses Approved ISO 12312-2 – AAS 2026 Approved – CE Certified – Safe for Direct Observation – Glasses to View Solar Eclipse The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Helioclipse 6 Solar Eclipse Glasses for Viewing the 2026 Solar Eclipse, Safe Solar Eclipse Glasses for Solar Eclipse Observation The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Jongsun Lee in UnsplashHawkers In Xataka | The mobile phones with the best camera 2026: next level photography in your pocket In Xataka | Best wireless over-ear headphones. Which one to buy and five recommended models

the traditional solution of a town in Navarra to the most dangerous problem of seeing an eclipse

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Who has not been guided by the rooms on New Year’s Eve so as not to screw up with the beginning of the 12 grapes? Without a doubt, those sounds that precede the chimes of 12 midnight are an ideal resource to fully enjoy the last night of the year. This summer, in the Navarrese town of Lerín they will have something similar to follow the solar eclipse of August 12. It is a ringing that has been designed for the occasion by the Navarra Bell Ringers Association and that, without a doubt, will make the observation of this phenomenon much more special. And also safe. A new touch for a unique phenomenon. The town of Lerín celebrates each year some days of astrotourism and scientific tourism, known as Lerín Earth Star. This year, as it could not be otherwise, they have been planned to coincide with the eclipse. For this reason, the astrophysicist and scientific disseminator Javier Armentia contacted the Association of Bell Ringers of Navarra to find out if they have a specific ringing to announce this type of events. The objective, according to explained At the press conference in which this curious invention was announced, it was “to unite tradition and astronomy in a way never seen before.” Since they did not have such a ring, they did not hesitate to look among their members for someone willing to design it. The person in charge, finally, was Rosarina Caballín. A simple touch with several interventions. The touch designed by Caballín is simple, with a ringing that becomes more intense as the climax approaches. It is designed to indicate the beginning and end of the partial and total phase of the eclipse. Bells for security. The decision to notify the start of the partial and total phase is not only symbolic, it also seeks the safety of those attending. While the eclipse is partial, if you look at the Sun it is absolutely essential to use approved protective glasses. Even if there is only 1% of light it can be enough to damage the eyes. On the other hand, during totality, when the Sun is completely covered, you can look at it without glasses. But the ending can be difficult to discern. As soon as the first rays appear again, the glasses should already be on. Therefore, warning through chimes is a genius. Ringing bells. This ringing will be carried out through two bells that have been acquired by the Association for this special moment. They do not belong to any building, but will be installed on a scaffolding approved for the occasion. The use of bells in history. We are used to associating bells with religious issues. In the Catholic religion, for example, it is quite common for them to be used to notify the start of masses, both those that take place regularly and those that are extraordinary for any reason. However, historically bells have been used for many other purposes. They have been used to warn of fires, neighborhood assemblies or even the passage of livestock. Some of these touches have their own tradition. It is the case of touch try cloudwhich was used to warn of the arrival of a storm and which in some places in Spain was even accompanied by a verse: “Hold on, hold on, God can do more than you.” It is not strange that Navarra has wanted to recover this type of traditions and unite them with the astronomical phenomenon of the year. An event that in the north of Spainperhaps it could also be considered the most important of the decade. Image | Unsplash/NASA In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

the battle to explain gravity that Einstein won thanks to an eclipse in 1919

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This summer, many people have organized their holidays around the eclipse that will be seen in Spain on August 12. Without a doubt, many see it as a spectacle that perhaps they can only see once. or very few times in life. However, we must not forget that it is still a phenomenon with very interesting scientific implications. For example, something very curious is that in 1919 It was used to prove Einstein right. Einstein vs Newton. In 1915, Einstein enunciated his Theory of General Relativity. In it, broadly speaking, he pointed out that the attraction of gravity is due to a space-time curvature caused by the effect of objects with mass and energy. Before him, the most accepted theory about gravity was the one launched by Newton. In it, it was pointed out that the gravitational attraction was due only to the mass of the objects. Energy had nothing to do with it, and of course I had no idea that time and space could be intertwined. Einstein’s hypothesis was received as interesting, but many physicists of the time were not willing to abandon Newton’s theory. If Einstein wanted to be believed, he would have to prove that he was right. An eclipse ultimately turned out to be the ideal experiment for his demonstration, although it was carried out not by him, but by a British astronomer named Arthur Eddington. Light issue. Newton considered that light was composed of corpuscles with mass. Therefore, these could also be attracted to massive objects. If the Sun drew light from the stars around it, for example, it would do so with an arc of 0.84 seconds. Einstein, on the other hand, made different calculations. For him, light is not attracted like a magnet attracts metal or anything like that. What happens, according to his theory, is that massive objects curve space-time, like a ball falling on top of an elastic fabric. The light, to pass through there, must take the easiest path, which is passing through the edges of that groove that the massive object has generated in space-time. In short, it also deviates, but much more so. According to Einstein’s calculations, we would be looking at an arc of 1.74 seconds. Massive objects warp spacetime The trick. To know who was right, it would be enough to observe the effects of the Sun on a nearby star cluster. But of course, during the day those stars are not seen. Therefore, the ideal would be to take advantage of an eclipse that blocks the light of the Sun and allows you to see the stars when they are very close to it. A very useful excursion. To try to prove Einstein right, Arthur Eddington traveled to Africa in May 1919. On the 29th of that month a very interesting eclipse would occur, since at that time the Sun would be very close to the Hyades, a large star cluster. He went to Príncipe Island and made the calculations of the position in which the stars should be when they appeared when the Sun set. I only had 7 minutes to try to take photographs and the weather did not make it easy for him, but he managed to take advantage of a cloudless moment and take the snapshots that would prove the German physicist right. As he already sensed, the stars in the cluster were deviated from where they should be if the Sun did not exert any gravity on them. Specifically, with an arc of 1.7 seconds. Nowadays. Eclipses have not been used for a long time to confirm theories that the scientific scene takes with suspicion, but they are still very useful for science. They expose the solar corona, that superficial layer of the sun in which solar storms brew that can affect terrestrial communications so much. Nowadays there are coronagraphs that create a kind of false eclipse so that the corona can be studied. However, eclipses offer a very interesting natural opportunity to see it in all its splendor. That’s also very exciting. Image | Wikimedia Commons/Luc Viatour |ESA In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

A meteorologist has analyzed 30 years of Spanish skies to see if you should worry about not seeing the eclipse on August 12

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Can you imagine spending a fortune on a trip? to emptied Spain to enjoy a show that will only last a couple of minutes and at the moment of truth the clouds arrive and prevent you from seeing it? That will be what will happen this summer if we are unlucky enough that the skies in the totality zones of the August 12 eclipse become cloudy. Unfortunately, until 3 or 4 days before we will not know what will happen. Weather predictions cannot be made any further in advance, what more would we like. However, you can do an analysis of what has happened in previous years, right in that place and on that date of the year. The meteorologist Benito Fuentes has been in charge of doing it and we can see the results in your X account (formerly Twitter). 30 years of observations. The meteorologist has analyzed what happened on August 12 at 8:00 p.m. in the Spanish skies over the last 30 years. Although the totality of this year’s eclipse will be reached around 8:30 p.m., the eclipse itself will start at 7:30 p.m.. That’s why he chose 8:00 p.m. The bad thing is that in your analysis you can see that in some of the points of the totality strip, half of August 12 have had too many clouds to be able to see an eclipse with peace of mind. Not all clouds are the same. The meteorologist has paid special attention to medium and low cloudssince the high ones allow the passage of light, so that it could be seen when the eclipse “turn it off”. Just a little cloudy skies. Another important fact that the meteorologist clarifies is that, due to the time at which the eclipse will take place, quite close to sunset, a few poorly positioned clouds are enough to ruin the show. It is not necessary for the skies to be completely cloudy. He has used 35% cloud cover as a threshold from which to start worrying. Not all positions are equal. Precisely also because of the time close to sunset, the clouds that would spoil the eclipse are those that are towards the west, where the sun sets. A few clouds to the west would be much worse than a completely closed sky above our heads. Don’t panic. These data are not a prediction, far from it. Just because half of the August twelfths have been problematically cloudy in the last 30 years does not mean that this year will be cloudy as well. With the predictions that can be made in the previous days, it will be possible to recalculate to a certain extent. the place to observe the eclipse. It’s not worth worrying ahead of time. That little bit of mystery and uncertainty also makes what is to come very interesting. And the good thing is that, if we can’t see it, we can always go hunting for the other two components of the Iberian trio of eclipses. Image | Magnific/NASA In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

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