Your Complete August 2026 Stargazing Calendar

Some months you have to hunt for something worth looking up for. August 2026 is the opposite: it's stacked. Between a total solar eclipse over Europe, a Perseid peak with no moonlight, and a pre-dawn parade of planets, there's something almost every clear night. Here's your month-at-a-glance guide.

The two headline events

Total solar eclipse — August 12. The Moon fully covers the Sun along a track running through Arctic Russia, eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. It's the first total solar eclipse to cross mainland Spain since 1905 and the first visible from Europe since 2006. Much of Europe, the North Atlantic and western Africa see a partial eclipse.

Perseid meteor shower peak — night of August 12–13. The year's most reliable meteor shower peaks on the same date, and this year the new moon means zero moonlight. Under dark skies you could see up to around 100 meteors an hour — one of the best Perseid years in recent memory.

The rest of the month, in order

Before sunrise: six planets at once

Around the time of the eclipse, early risers can catch Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune strung across the dawn sky. Four are easy naked-eye targets; Uranus and Neptune need binoculars, but bagging all six in one morning is a genuine achievement.

The Americas get their own eclipse

If the European solar eclipse is out of reach, August 28 brings a deep partial lunar eclipse — about 96% of the Moon slipping into Earth's shadow in the early hours, visible across North and South America. It's the perfect consolation prize.

Clear skies this month are worth planning around. Bookmark this calendar, and we'll go deep on each of these events in the days ahead.