- 11:40
First contact
The Moon takes its first small bite out of the edge of the Sun. Nothing changes around you yet, and you need eclipse glasses to see it at all.
- 12:21 to 12:41
The light turns strange
As the Sun becomes a crescent, daylight becomes flatter and slightly metallic, even though the sky is still bright. Gaps between leaves project hundreds of small crescents onto the ground.
- 12:46 to 12:56
It gets cooler and darker
The temperature starts to drop noticeably, shadows become unusually sharp, and birds and animals may behave as if evening is coming. The brightest planets can appear in the darkening sky.
- 12:59
The shadow approaches
If you have a view to the west, the sky there turns dark as the Moon’s shadow rushes towards you. Faint rippling bands of light and shade, called shadow bands, sometimes race across pale ground.
- Seconds before 13:01:55
Baily’s beads and the diamond ring
The last sunlight shines through valleys on the edge of the Moon as a string of bright beads, named after the astronomer Francis Baily. The final bead flares as a single brilliant point next to the first glimpse of the corona: the diamond ring.
- 13:01:55 to 13:08:20
Totality
For 6m 25s the Sun is completely hidden. Now, and only now, it is safe to take off your glasses and look. The corona spreads out around the black Moon, pink prominences may show at its edge, and there is a sunset glow all the way round the horizon.
- 13:08:20
Third contact
A second diamond ring appears on the opposite side of the Moon as sunlight returns. Put your eclipse glasses back on immediately.
- 14:26
Last contact
Over the next hour or so the events run in reverse, until the Moon leaves the Sun’s disc and the eclipse ends.
Times are local time in Luxor (UTC+3), calculated for the city centre. The descriptions of light, temperature and animal behaviour are typical, and vary with weather and location.
What to do with your few minutes
Experienced eclipse watchers give the same advice to first-timers: decide in advance what you want to do during totality, and keep it simple. Look at the corona with your own eyes for at least part of the time, glance at the horizon and the sky around the Sun, and do not spend the whole of totality looking at a phone screen. Set an alarm for a few seconds before third contact so that your glasses go back on in time.