00:00For the first time in more than a century, a total solar eclipse is set to sweep across mainland Spain.
00:07On August 12th, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun,
00:11briefly turning daylight into darkness across parts of Iberian Peninsula, Iceland and Greenland.
00:18The eclipse will begin near the North Pole before the moon's shadow races south,
00:23with totality lasting up to 2 minutes and 18 seconds.
00:27Well, in order to see a total solar eclipse from the very same location more than once,
00:32you could be waiting over 200 years for that to happen.
00:35Partial eclipses can be slightly more common.
00:38But again, if we're talking about just from one particular country or one particular region of a country,
00:45you might get lucky, you might get a few partial eclipses in a decade.
00:49However, I mean, they can be very rare, depending on where you are.
00:52For observers in Spain, the timing makes the spectacle even more dramatic as totality arrives close to sunset.
00:59The moon's shadow will travel more than 8,000 kilometers,
01:03with most of its paths crossing the Atlantic before reaching Portugal and Spain,
01:07where crowds are expected to gather.
01:10And this eclipse offers more than a spectacular view.
01:15Solar eclipses are still incredibly exciting, even if you've seen a few of them.
01:19It really is a bucket list event.
01:21And there's really no limit to the amount of times you can see a bucket list event.
01:25As well as that, they're still incredibly useful for research.
01:28So when we have that moment of totality of the moon directly in front of the sun,
01:33it reveals the sun's outer wispy atmosphere called the corona,
01:37something that's still quite mysterious to astronomers.
01:40So we can study it during that moment.
01:42So it's actually incredibly useful as well.
01:45The corona, normally hidden by the sun's intense brightness,
01:49becomes visible during those fleeting moments of totality,
01:52giving scientists a rare opportunity to study the star's outer atmosphere.
01:57As the sun disappears behind the moon, daylight will give way to darkness,
02:02a rare celestial moment that will last only minutes but leaving a lasting impression.
02:07Thank you for listening.
02:09sustainable
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