The eclipse is part of a total solar eclipse sweeping across a path that includes Iceland and Spain on August 12, but Poland lies outside that path and will see only a partial phase, with the sun's disk narrowing into a crescent shape at its peak.
Timing will work against many observers. The eclipse begins between 7:10 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. local time, depending on location, but the sun will set before the event is over—and in much of eastern Poland, before it even reaches its deepest point.
Western Poland will fare better. The Kłodzko Valley area is expected to see up to 88 percent of the sun obscured, the highest coverage nationwide, while the Wrocław, Gorzów Wielkopolski and Szczecin areas will see roughly 86 percent.
The Masurian Lake District in the northeast can expect about 85 percent.
"In the southeastern part of the country, the eclipse will be shallower, reaching about 58 percent in the Rzeszów area," said Elżbieta Kuligowska of the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Observatory at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, in remarks distributed by the university.
Conditions will be weakest of all in the Bieszczady Mountains, where only about 42 percent coverage will be visible before sunset cuts the event short.
Kuligowska urged prospective viewers to scout a location with a clear, unobstructed view toward the western horizon—away from buildings, trees or hills—given how low the sun will sit in the sky.
She also repeated a standard warning about eye safety: looking directly at the sun without proper protection can permanently damage the retina, often painlessly.
Certified eclipse glasses, solar-filtered binoculars or telescopes, and pinhole projection onto paper are considered safe methods.
Eclipses occur when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, but they do not happen every new moon.
"This is because the moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees relative to Earth's orbital plane. An eclipse occurs only when a new moon falls near the point where the two orbits intersect," Kuligowska explained.
Timing data published in the Polish Astronomical Society's 2026 Astronomical Almanac shows the eclipse beginning shortly after 7 p.m. in most major cities, with peak coverage—where visible before sunset—ranging from about 79 percent in the northeastern city of Białystok to nearly 87 percent in Wrocław in the country's southwest.
In Kraków and Białystok, the sun sets before the eclipse reaches its maximum phase.
Poland's next deep partial eclipse will come on August 2, 2027, Kuligowska said, but a total eclipse will not be visible from the country again until 2135.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP