If you’re an astronomy nerd, it’s time to dust off your telescope and talk your friends into joining you in a field at 3 AM. And if you’re not an astronomy nerd, you should listen to them anyway.
On the night of August 12 to 13, the Netherlands will experience not one, but two astronomical phenomena: a partial solar eclipse, and a meteor shower.
And nope, they have nothing to do with each other. You could just say the stars happen to be aligning perfectly.
Let’s start with the solar eclipse
The excitement will kick off on the evening of August 12, 2026. Starting at 7:16 PM, the solar eclipse will begin, with 88% of the sun becoming eclipsed by 8:11 PM, according to KNVWS.
And yes, 88% is significant. In fact, this is the largest partial solar eclipse the Netherlands has seen since 1999 — and we won’t see another one of this magnitude until 2081!
The eclipse ends at 9:03 PM, so make sure to catch a glimpse (with the proper eyewear).
Want to know when exactly you should try to take a look based on your location? There’s a calculator for that.
And if you’re wondering whether there’ll be some clouds to obscure your view, fret not. The forecast is clear skies with the occasional cloud (high cirrus clouds, to be specific). However, even if these do happen to waft through your field of vision just in time for the eclipse, you should still be able to see through them.
But that’s not all; then there are the meteorites
Once you’ve finished your gawking at the eclipse, it’s time to grab a bottle of wine, some blankets, and a good patch of grass to settle down on for the night.
In the early hours of August 13, the Perseid meteor shower will put on quite the show. This meteor shower is quite popular among the astronomy kids due to two things: the meteors are super bright, and its high hourly rate.
Just make sure you’re caffeinated; the best time to view the meteor shower from the Netherlands is around 3:45 AM on the morning of August 13, with 40-55 meteors expected to be visible during the hour.
Will you be looking to the skies? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
