Eclipses · Feb 17, 2026
Annular solar eclipse of Feb 17, 2026: how it looked from every city
The Moon sat inside the Sun, leaving a thin ring of fire, along a path about 132 km wide across Antarctica. It lasted longest, 2 min 16 s, at 64.7°S, 86.7°E.
For thousands of kilometres either side of the path, people saw a partial eclipse: a bite out of the Sun.
Watch it on the globe The Moon's shadow crossing the Earth in 3D, sped up.
Where it can be seen
The map needs JavaScript. The list beside it and the table below have the same information.
How it looked from each city 6 cities see some of it
| City | Covered | Starts | Middle | Ends | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antananarivo, MG | 20% | 3:43 PM | 4:35 PM GMT+3 | 5:23 PM | 25° | 20% · 3:43 PM to 5:23 PM, middle 4:35 PM GMT+3 · Sun 25° |
| Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, ZA | 16% | 2:10 PM | 3:05 PM GMT+2 | 3:57 PM | 45° | 16% · 2:10 PM to 3:57 PM, middle 3:05 PM GMT+2 · Sun 45° |
| Maputo, MZ | 13% | 2:23 PM | 3:15 PM GMT+2 | 4:03 PM | 43° | 13% · 2:23 PM to 4:03 PM, middle 3:15 PM GMT+2 · Sun 43° |
| Johannesburg, Gauteng, ZA | 8% | 2:26 PM | 3:11 PM GMT+2 | 3:54 PM | 48° | 8% · 2:26 PM to 3:54 PM, middle 3:11 PM GMT+2 · Sun 48° |
| Pretoria, ZA | 8% | 2:28 PM | 3:12 PM GMT+2 | 3:54 PM | 47° | 8% · 2:28 PM to 3:54 PM, middle 3:12 PM GMT+2 · Sun 47° |
| Harare, ZW | 2% | 3:02 PM | 3:31 PM GMT+2 | 3:59 PM | 41° | 2% · 3:02 PM to 3:59 PM, middle 3:31 PM GMT+2 · Sun 41° |
Times are local to each city.
Watching safely
- Never look at the Sun without eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer that meets the ISO 12312-2 standard, even when most of it is covered. Sunglasses are not enough.
- Don't look through a camera, binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter over the front, even while wearing eclipse glasses: they concentrate the light and can burn your eye in an instant.
- A ring of fire is still the Sun. Keep your glasses on the whole time.
- No glasses? Poke a small hole in a card and let the sunlight fall through it onto the ground: you'll see little crescents. The gaps between leaves do the same.
What you'll see
The Moon is a little too far from Earth this time to cover the Sun completely, so it sits inside it and leaves a thin ring of sunlight: the ring of fire. The sky dims, but it never gets dark.
Outside the ring's path, it's a partial eclipse: a bite out of the Sun that grows, then shrinks.
How we work this out: Astronomy Engine gives the Sun and Moon's exact positions, and we check the eclipse from every city and from points across the map. The edges of the path are found by stepping out from its centre until the eclipse stops being a ring. It's precise to the minute; hills and the Moon's uneven edge can move the very edges of the path, so check before you travel to one. This is the same math the Sky Globe uses to draw the shadow.