2026 Eclipse Webcams | Hacker News Reader

2026 Eclipse Webcams

jonty.github.io

513 pointszoenolan143 comments

This is mine! Built it quickly in 2024 for the US eclipse [1] and finished minutes before totality started.

I completely forgot about it until a friend asked this morning. Coordinating a DDOS on cameras across Iceland and Spain was not on my to-do list for today.

Fingers crossed it doesn't break for you all - I will be watching it with my own eyes this time.

[1] https://jonty.github.io/2024_eclipse_webcams/

Some of the webcams doesn't work, for example in Torreblanca, Castellón. I guess it's normal

For mallorca, a lot of the cameras are pointing in the wrong direction and many of the ones pointing in the right direction are missing. Just from a quick glance at this map:

https://visiona.conectabalear.com/map/

Thanks for this tho! Didn’t think of checking for cameras!

does openstreetmap have a realtime weather layer perhaps that can be turned on to see who is going to be affected by cloudcover?

Maybe Windy.com has a layer for that. I also use https://www.sat24.com/ (I think it only covers Europe)

How did you find all these cameras? Am I stupid?

Are these questions related?

I'm conflicted about upvoting sarcasm but it made me laugh so....

I'm repurposing a meme where someone asks something like "Why didn't you ___? Are you stupid?"

Basically I'm wondering about the answer to the first question, but the utter absence of any explanation of it makes me wonder if it's common knowledge, and so I also wonder about the answer to the second one.

Incredibly cool! Thank you for making this.

Do you have a link to the repo?

https://github.com/Jonty/2026_eclipse_webcams

I also released an app last minute for this, got approved 3h ago lol https://apps.apple.com/app/id6797313478

Great timing

Nitpicky, but does it take into account trees, vegetation and buildings? Even without, still looks like a good addition and real easy to use, so not saying it shouldn't exists or anything :)

Please also do a "humanization" pass of the app description which is obviously AI written right now, and remove the fluff and stuff like "that matters more than it sounds" which seems really out of place, you're not writing a blog/Substack ;) Just put what the app is about and what it does, nothing more :)

https://github.com/Jonty/2026_eclipse_webcams

A simple and elegant project

Living in Vancouver, I traveled to Toronto to watch the Eclipse in 2024. We faced a nasty cloud, and had to drive hundreds of kilometers (hundreds of miles) to get a reasonably good view. On the drive back I decided that I'll travel for the one that's happening today, and here I am, in Sierra, with some cool people.

Solar eclipses happen rarely enough, and frequently enough, to act as milestones in my life: I can review what happened since the previous one, and make a plan for the next one.

They are some of the most magnificent natural phenomena, much more interesting than what's expected.

The only other one that I got to see in perfect conditions was in my home town, Isfahan in 1999. I hope this one is perfectly clear again, and I have some resolutions for the next one.

I was in Toronto in 2024. Wanted to travel to EU for the next one (I’m from EU) but sadly couldn’t make that happen.

Enjoy the eclipse!

Same here! I couldn’t make it this year so hopefully next one!

> hundreds of kilometers (hundreds of miles)

This units “conversion” earned a chuckle from me…

I flew to Toronto to watch the 2024 Eclipse as well.

Super disappointing experience due to the clouds and seeing so many beautiful pictures of totality beforehand.

It's currently cloudy in Iceland. Hah, hotel prices doubled, and they're not even getting any show ("they" is almost "we" because I was thinking of travelling there).

Eclipses have a special consequence to the human history. It is noted by Asimov that the first correct prediction of the Eclipse was done in May 28, 585 by Thales of Miletus and this event is considered the "Birth of Science". It took approximately 1500 years from the first (recorded) observation of eclipse (in china), the correct prediction of the solar eclipse in advance. This is truly marvelous.

Incidentally, unknown and not connected with the prediction, during the same eclipse, a 5 year battle between Medes and the Lydians came to stop as the armies got scared, if it was a divine intervention and they let their arms down.

Thales' supposed prediction of a solar eclipse is not considered plausible by experts in the history of astronomy. At the time and for long afterward there was no sufficiently accurate data / theory to predict solar eclipses.

There are a wide range of speculations about what Herodotus might have meant by the relevant passage:

> [...] another combat took place in the sixth year, in the course of which, just as the battle was growing warm, day was on a sudden changed into night. This event had been foretold by Thales, the Milesian, who forewarned the Ionians of it, fixing for it the very year in which it actually took place. The Medes and Lydians, when they observed the change, ceased fighting, and were alike anxious to have terms of peace agreed on.

Herodotus doesn't give any additional details. Later people assumed he must have meant a solar eclipse and the one of the only ones that makes sense for the place is the one of 485 BC, but there are plenty of historical details that make that seem dubious. For example, that eclipse would have arrived around sunset, and one of the kings Herodotus mentioned apparently died about 10 years before that.

Sorry, typo: 585 BC

It is well documented that the Antikythera mechanism could predict solar and lunar eclipses. The device's operation was based on 7th century BC Babylonian astronomy, specifically the Saros cycle, and Greek astronomy. The theory and data was definitely present in Thales' time.

The Antikythera mechanism is 4 centuries after Thales, during which time there was extensive additional study done by Greek astronomers. Evidence of old solar eclipse predictions seems pretty sparse; I can't figure out when the first successfully predicted solar eclipse was that we are certain about.

Saw it today in Zaragoza. Corona was amazing but what took my breath away when I looked through my binoculars were pink (fuchsia?) prominences close to the solar disk. As describes here they are in fact plasma structures:

https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/space-photo-of-the...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_prominence

Sierra de Guadarrama - Puerto de Cotos https://www.infonieve.es/espacio-nordico/puerto-de-cotos/web... looks decent, different views, good weather.

While the Webcam has a good View, according to current images, it only updates every 5 minutes, e.g. 20:30h 57s and the totality at that location starts 30s later.

Also there is solar panel monitoring data. That is also an interesting watch:

https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/ES/live/five_minute...

My electric company are paying me to discharge my solar batteries during the eclipse. Nice

I took this picture just after it when completely dark.

https://imgur.com/5kz8VyA

Thanks for posting this, most of us won’t be able to view the eclipse but having a few webcams really helps to get the feeling!

Hoping to be able to see the great eclipse of 2027 live ;-)

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2027-august-2

Pictures do not do justice, and in my opinion the most photographed part (moon covering the sun) is not the most interesting one.

How the light changes, the corona when it's total darkness, and the light coming back again. All this is hundreds of times better than the occlusion (IMHO).

Watching the moon in front of the sun, with the corona around it, it's a memory that I plan to hold on for as long as I can.

NASA https://www.youtube.com/live/rSvCuSQhC3w

ESA https://www.youtube.com/live/DRDx2xDR8NA

VirtualTelescope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yfnV0FOgfE

Royal Observatory Greenwich https://www.youtube.com/live/X_lWDBTZdrY

This is great, can easily see what spots are overfilled with people or not :) I'm still thinking about where exactly I'll go to see it, was thinking Calafell or Vilanova as they're nearby and easily accessible, but probably half of Barcelona thinks the same so better to go a bit inland. Probably I'll end up just outside Lleida I think.

Any more Spanish HNers (or temporary visitors) who are going to any specific places to see it? :)

Colmenar Viejo seems a great spot ;)

Only 7 hours away :D I'm in the Maresme area, so probably will end up between València and Tarragona on some mountain :) Thanks for the tip though, I'll forward it to my Madrid friends.

Mountains close to leon?

I'll go somewhere around Bilbao

I'm from A Coruña so I should be able to just go down to the street, walk like 100 m and see it. I just hope clouds don't spoil the show (at the moment it's looking good, but here you never know).

How it ended up? South of Catalunya was clear sky as far as the eye could see, was a great evening :) We got maybe 30-40 seconds of totality I think in the end.

It ended up very unlucky... the forecast was good, the sky was totally clear at 6 pm, but clouds quickly started to form and in the total phase it was fully covered.

I got mad and ragebooked a flight to Málaga to see next year's one :D

Oh no, that's sad! Better luck next year indeed! We're thinking of Tunisia instead, take advantage and visit our African neighbors across the sea :)

I'm in Valencia, planning to watch it from the beach.

Also in Valencia and the beach is a great idea.

A little too late to travel from Barcelona, but anywhere in the province of Teruel or the east part of Guadalajara is inside totality area, will have great weather, clear skies and is endemically underpopulated, so, even with eclipse-chasers coming for the occasion, it will be orders of magnitude less crowded than the coast.

As for myself, I'll be watching it from here: https://theeclipse.app/2026-total/maps/default?lng=-3.562706...

Free bonus: These areas are generally quite high over sea level (like ~1000m or so) and have very low light contamination, so the night sky is great.

So, if you wait 3-4 hours after the eclipse, you'll be able to enjoy a great moonless sky, with plenty of stars, the Milky Way and, hopefully, some Perseids!!

I love Teruel in general, didn't have time to go that far though as you mentioned! We ended up heading towards Tarragona, got tired of the traffic and stopped at Cubelles/Cunit, ended on top of a parking garage of Mercadona with a bunch of other people. Was perfect, clear sky and close enough to home :)

I think we ended up getting 30-40 seconds of totality or so, but lost count as I was watching it.

Really cool. I'm quite curious as to where the webcam data came from, as it seems to be from various websites/sources.

I'm curious too

I do think that it's really worth it to see the eclipse with the glasses [1]. Something also very beautiful is to see other amazing things like the shadows it creates through the trees [2].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyiFxGlrONQ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y93BIHjI4KY

https://eclipsefan.org/

Posting this from a HN post a few days ago - one of the better "where is the eclipse currently" trackers that isn't currently ddossed.

adding that there are some great webcams in santander on youtube that you can watch as it starts in a few minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/@tendnetworks

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2026-august-12

Nice page showing where it will be, with times and visualizations for any point/city.

Lovely page thx.

Means for aljezur portugal we´ll experience a totallity?

Missing the official RÚV stream from Látrabjarg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0EQtb747n8

RÚV also has special programing around the event here: https://www.ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2026-08-12-almyrkvastofan...

And the Björk DJ-ing the eclipse is broadcasted on RÚV’s radio station Rás 1: https://www.ruv.is/utvarp/beint/ras1

Doesn't seem like the best of weather now in Iceland, hopefully it clears up. Otherwise it would suck for the people who have planned the trip months if not years in advance only to get a clouded sky, but that's always the risk with astrotravel.

Surely the smart money is to go to Spain

We do get cloudy days too sometimes :) Although today it is looking fairly sunny all over the place: https://i.imgur.com/4LK7xo8.png

there is another total solar eclipse next year in 2027 in south of spain if the first time not lucky

I'm watching that one in Egypt.

One of the best places would be Asturias, which has also incredibly scenery worth the travel, but it was too cloudy in many places. Not all of Spain is sun and beaches!

The best spot (imo) was Leon, just in the south of Asturias where the sky was clear.

I live near Lisbon. Checked windy yesterday for cloud forecast, topography, within the center of the totality area, and night sky quality (for the perseids after), and quickly decided on that area. Rented a small commercial van, drove around 6h30 and ended up in a tiny village named Abia de Las Torres, in the top of a small hill surrounded by sunflower fields with a whole bunch of people, with perfect weather (other than some smoky haze from forest fires)

I live in Osorno la Mayor and had to travel to Abia to see the eclipse because of the huge crowd around the town. I watched the eclipse from the hill with the geodesic point. In the total dark phase I heard the crowd in Abia cheering and also in the villages around. Did you looked north to the suddenly towering mountains of the Sierra Palentina. What a sight!

Yes, we travelled to Cornwall in 1999 but it was cloudy. Got a marvellous view in Oregon in 2017 though. A friend of mine travels to all the solar eclipses he can wherever they are in the world. That's a bit too obsessive for me though. I'm in Devon this time but only 95% cover.

Currently in Keflavík, it is very wet, but I can see a pocket of blue sky in the clouds.

My trip coincides, I’ve been camping across the country and the rain has followed me across the whole island

It has been an incredible trip

Edit: it was rainy and cloudy but still so cool!

I took my kids out of school and took an unplanned day off work in the middle of an important meeting series to drive 5 hours west from Virginia to Ohio to see the last eclipse. The schools and my boss were both yelling at me, both saying the eclipse wasn't a good enough excuse. I'm sorry, but it definitely was. I am so glad I did that. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I drove ~3 hours to the Vermont-Canada border... and then drove 14 hours home. I'd also do it again in a heartbeat.

I almost signed up for a live-work program for a big music festival happening in Iceland, but the flights (the only thing not covered) were astronomically expensive and I had already made plans with my dad last weekend, and he's getting older so I really didn't want to bail on him.

I would love to sit atop the Rock of Gibraltar (with 47,000 other people) for the next one, Aug 2 2027, but that is likely also a pipe-dream, because NORMAL flights to Gibraltar are already too expensive for me.

I also report strange time anomalies. I blasted to Burlington from Nashua early morning and it took ~3 hrs to get there and ~7 hrs to get home...in a manual transmission. I'd do it again too, life changing experience.

Boston to Bingham, Maine in about 4 hours. I was in my car and headed home about 10 seconds after totality ended and made it home in 5 hours. Totally worth it.

Both myself and my boss took off work to see the last one. Though unplanned it was not, as eclipses can be predicted centuries in advance. I intended to see it before even working there. Looking forward to the next local one in 2045.

I took off work to drive from Houston to Little Rock to see the eclipse at 100% and I'm so glad I did. I can't imagine prioritizing a temporary job over a once in a lifetime event.

I had a colleague who really wanted to see the eclipse but felt bad about taking off from work, so he didn't go. He ended up being laid off within a year. I feel terrible for him. I also learned how important it is to keep perspective on what matters.

In many places in Europe that could have cost you jail time.

What are you talking about? Where on earth does taking an unplanned day off work get you jail time?

Taking your kids out of school is illegal in many places in Europe. Children are supposed to be in school. And if you are not the assigned pickup that is an automatic national alert for abduction.

You are such a typical German, afraid of the law. There are laws that are important like murder and stealing and then there are laws that are not important like jaywalking and being a public nuisance. You need to stop treating the latter like the former.

Not having your kids in school is an offense that is ranked significantly higher than jaywalking. I don’t see how you are comparing it to murder. Afraid of the law is a silly statement. Laws are made by the democratic system. Adhere to them.

There is a reason not bringing your kids to school can lead to jail time. It’s a serious offense.

I now read that German police will stop and check families with kids in airports the days immediately before and after public holidays. Chilling "Ihre papiere bitte" vibes there. Not doing a great job at avoiding stereotypes, you guys maybe could historically benefit from saner laws and a healthier relationship with them.

Well good for them I guess

There is nowhere in Europe that is true. Why exactly are you posting misinformation?

True in Germany. Schulpflicht.

Why exactly are you posting defamation?

Well today I learned. I guess Germany has problems getting away from its police state past. By "many places" did you just mean Germany?

I can post defamation because I live in a better country.

Sorry for my ignorance, but can someone please explain what I'm looking at here?

Today there is a eclipse, the map shows where the eclipse will be. In the path of the eclipse, there are also a ton of live webcams, and this map shows those and let you preview the webcams. Does it make sense now?

Even more specifically, it will start off over Greenland, continue over western Iceland and then finish with the sunset in northeastern Spain and the Balearic Islands.

If you pan to the right, it shows that it actually starts in a bit of russia

That area (Taymyr Peninsula) looks crazy remote and inaccessible. It would be wild to be there, let alone experience an eclipse there. I think it might even be illegal to do so without a permit, though I'm also curious what enforcement looks like in an area so far from what we think of as normal infrastructure.

> I think it might even be illegal to do so without a permit

Do what, just visit? Seems to be public land as far as I can see, and very empty on top of that, I don't think anyone would mind you being there to see an eclipse :)

It still started in russia though, even if nobody was there to see it

Oh, sure, this is just my rumination on experiencing something that seems so existential in such a solitary place.

About five hours from now, the sections of Europe indicated on the map will experience a total solar eclipse, with other regions of the continent experiencing a partial one.

The map shows feeds to watch it.

It’s like kik or twitch stream but for nerds (that’s us btw), the live stream is a bunch of live cameras in different cities/countries, these locations today will experience something called totality sun eclipse, it’s when the sun is totally covered, day turns to night, and you see a pretty yet scary ring in the sky instead, it lasts for minutes at best, and it’s a really cool thing to witness in person, but in case you can’t, at least you see it through someone’s lens in a live stream, like that site!

Cool, there is no check on the direction of the camera. Various camera's I checked do not seem to point in the direction of the sun during totality. It does filter candidate cameras down though.

Modern camera sensors are so good at light gathering that sometimes the only thing that really looks different is that you see lights turn on and they seem overly bright compared to surroundings. I get the same effect on my home camera, which can make a weak streetlight level of illumination look like daytime and the only tell is that the neighbors porch lights are exceedingly bright.

Which is to say, it's underwhelming to see a solar eclipse on a webcam.

We are going to get the full solar eclipse, but to be honest I'm going to enjoy the transitions more than the actual eclipse itself. It's not like the glasses will give you a great view of the actual sun itself compared to a live professional camera setup so I'll be having the tv on to se the "filtered" view of the sun directly instead of trying to stare at it. I'll peak a glance once in awhile.

If you're going to be within the path of totality, I strongly urge you to go outside and look up at the eclipse during totality with the naked eye, it's safe: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/safety/#eye-safety-total

Truly a transcendent experience: the shadow of the moon rushing across the land toward you, the air suddenly cooling, the sunset horizon in every direction, the ring of the sun's corona surrounding the silhouette of the moon... There's no other natural phenomenon like it, and video/photos truly don't do it justice!

Amazing, duly noted

Will definitely do thanks

Unfortunately, camera white balance seems to diminish the effect compared to actually being there. But it's something. Now imagine that the weather got 10 deg (F) colder, the birds are chirping because they think it's bedtime and your circadian rhythm is nagging you in the back of your head: "this ain't right"

TBF it’s quite late in the evening already so in the places where this is happening none of it is as off as it is when the eclipse occurs mid-day.

I get access blocked errors all over the screen

Where Can I see it clearly

(Plug) If you’re watching in person and want to be sure you’re in a place that will see the eclipse, I built a little web app to help with that [1]. It also has cloud data forecast overlayed for Spain.

[1] https://jdlm.info/eclipse-locator/

The interesting map will be the subsequent Google searches for "Me duelen los ojos".

https://coywolf.com/news/seo/people-searching-eyes-hurt-afte...

Ugh - I didn't know this will pass over Reykjavik. Would have been fantastic to see from there.

96% cloud cover over Reykjavik...

Does anyone know if there will be any live feed of the earth viewed from space during the eclipse?

Maybe here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSvCuSQhC3w

Best Total Solar Eclipse Photos | EarthSky | https://youtu.be/KVgZ4k9hRW4?is=8w4sanOuLRMC9Ija

I get "access blocked, referer is required" errors tiled all over the screen

Goes very well with music by Total Eclipse [1]

[1] https://www.discogs.com/artist/516-Total-Eclipse

I'm a bit late; just gonna leave this here. If you're a nerd like me, either horrifying or hilarious. Perhaps both.

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" in Klingon https://youtu.be/Tl-12jfiwcQ?si=dgpBH2H9R6RbF_xv

Live streamg from IAC (Canary Islands) https://www.youtube.com/@iacvideos/streams

The eclipse should also be visible from space in the "live" satellite imagery on:

https://zoom.earth

I was there, a 3 minutes walk from home in Northern Spain. It wasn't as charming as I expected, but the environment with cheerful people looked fine.

Sad to be in Singapore where eclipse is not visible!

Next year: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/singapore?iso=2027080...

Extremely happy to live in a place where vision is perfect and with a clear day. Going out for a walk soon to find a quiet spot and enjoy.

Eclipse + perseids, which means people in Iceland/Spain will see shooting stars when the skies go dark, wow!

How often does this happen? Like, never?

Don't forget 6-planet alignment.

Aligned with what, exactly?

It is true that 6 planets have found themselves on the night-side: excluding Venus (currently an "Evening Star"); with Pluto setting just before Mercury and Jupiter rise.

But the chances of seeing them all aren't great; Jupiter's only about 10° away from the Sun as it rises. Uranus and Neptune, as always, are far too dim to see without a good telescope.

But they are not aligned with one another, and not particularly aligned with anything in the sky. 6 planets on the night-side is not a rare occurrence by any means.

It is just the stupidity of social media clickbait that promotes these "Planetary Parades" as something exciting. Just go see planets. There are plenty of opportunities. Sometimes they are even in conjunction with one another. Now is not one of those times.

> Aligned with what, exactly?

The ecliptic plane? Which all planets are aligned onto so people take a ruler put and are like "OMG planets align" when they end up in the same rough patch of the sky.

I mean the whole eclipse was shortly before the sunset and shortly after the sunset you could see 6 planets nearby. That's quite unique, don't you think?

No. It would not be unique if it were true, and what you said is false.

"Unique" is a one-time occurrence. Perhaps we could say a unique alignment is once in a human lifetime. There will be more eclipses, and the planets are nearly always there to be found! Everything in our solar system is cyclical!

During totality, you may possibly have glimpsed Venus, Mercury, Jupiter.

Shortly after the sunset, only one planet was visible (besides Earth): Venus. The others were below the horizon. See my GP post.

I don't know what you mean by "nearby". Jupiter and Mercury are quite close, and making a closer approach within a couple of days.

The planets, as sibling points out, are strung out along the ecliptic plane. From our vantage point on Earth, there are wide distances between most. There is a very wide distance across the sky for the set of six.

The set of six planets are on the night side and they are most visible just before sunrise. Not after sunset. Check your reliable websites: NASA, ESA, Sky & Telescope, EarthSky. Check a reliable simulation app, such as Stellarium. Don't trust your randos on social media.

I was supposed to enjoy the show of a lifetime, instead the sky is covered in clouds hahah, maybe in another life...

FWIW there’s a better one next year which skirts through southern spain and norther Africa.

What makes it better?

Higher magnitude (coverage) at maximum, and because it'll be late morning the totality will last much longer. Also almost entirely over land, where this one was mostly over the ocean.

On a Virgin cruise near Ibiza, getting ready for it before sunset. Anyone else in the cruise say hello!

Different cruise in the Bay of Biscay but hello!

Hilariously this is successfully tracking these cameras being overloaded with requests in real time.

Isn't there a big ship out there traveling between the clouds

Surprised they don't have a starlink uplink

Crowd at Cabo Fisterra are dancing and having a good time. Thanks for sharing.

The main camera on YouTube from Leon, Spain, completely missed corona...

Don't bother looking at Iceland: weather is awful right now.

I just saw it from the lake shore and it was beautiful.

The pattern looks like the Mastodon logo

I'm declaring that sun will die a over northern Spain and western Iceland by the end of the day.

Very cool

Was just dealing with this yesterday

cool -thx

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