The total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027, from Sfax, Tunisia
Sfax, Tunisia: nearly six minutes, with the easiest access of any long-duration site.
5 min 43 sec of totality
Sfax, Tunisia is inside the path of totality. The Sun is completely covered for 5 min 43 sec, with the Sun 56 degrees above the horizon at maximum.
Local contact times
All times are for Sfax on Monday, 2 August 2027, in local clock time, computed for latitude 34.741, longitude 10.760 at sea level. A few hundred metres of elevation moves these by well under a second.
| Stage | Local time | UTC | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partial eclipse begins | 08:56:19 GMT+1 | 07:56:19 UTC | The Moon takes the first bite out of the Sun. Filters on. |
| Totality begins | 10:08:38 GMT+1 | 09:08:38 UTC | Only now is it safe to look with bare eyes. |
| Maximum eclipse | 10:11:29 GMT+1 | 09:11:29 UTC | The middle of totality, with the Sun 56 degrees above the horizon. |
| Totality ends | 10:14:21 GMT+1 | 09:14:21 UTC | Filters back on immediately, before the first bead of Sun returns. |
| Partial eclipse ends | 11:31:36 GMT+1 | 10:31:36 UTC | The Sun is whole again. |
- Sun altitude at maximum
- 56 degrees (high in the sky)
- Most of the Sun covered
- 100 percent
- Duration of totality
- 5 min 43 sec
- Whole eclipse lasts
- 2 hr 35 min
- Time zone
- Africa/Tunis
- Coordinates used
- 34.741, 10.760
Eye safety. A certified solar filter is required for every part of this eclipse except the 5 min 43 sec of totality itself. During totality, and only then, filters come off and the corona is safe to look at with bare eyes. Put them back on the instant the first bead of Sun returns; do not wait to be dazzled.
How much room is there
Sfax sits about 107 km from the nearest edge of the path, which is comfortable margin.
It is close enough to the center line that a short drive gains little.
Distances are measured due south along this town's meridian. The path runs east-southeast, so the true shortest hop is a little less than these figures: treat them as an upper bound.
What to expect here
Sfax is the compromise many people will end up making: it gives up about 40 seconds against Luxor and gains a straightforward flight, a coastal climate and an ordinary tourist infrastructure. The Sun is around 56 degrees up, high enough that buildings and low hills are not a concern.
Checking another location
This page is computed for one set of coordinates. For anywhere else, including a specific hotel, a viewpoint or a spot out on the path, the Eclipse Explorer computes local contact times and how much of the Sun is covered for any location you give it, and the main page for this eclipse carries the global circumstances, the Saros series and the shape of the path.
These are mean-limb times. The Moon's edge is mountainous, so the exact instants totality begins and ends shift by a second or two depending on which lunar valley the last sliver of Sun drains through. That correction is smaller than the difference a short drive makes, and smaller than the error in standing somewhere other than these exact coordinates. Every figure here is a computed fact you may reuse freely; see how these were computed.
The same eclipse from other towns
Every town below is computed the same way, so the durations are directly comparable.
Asyut, Egypt
6 min 10 sec of totality, Sun 81 degrees up.
Benghazi, Libya
6 min 13 sec of totality, Sun 68 degrees up.
Tangier, Morocco
4 min 54 sec of totality, Sun 38 degrees up.
Tarifa, Spain
4 min 41 sec of totality, Sun 38 degrees up.
Gibraltar
4 min 29 sec of totality, Sun 38 degrees up.
All towns, side by side
Every town on this path in one table, sorted by how long totality lasts.