For the first time in more than seven decades, the Kingdom will fall under the shadow of a total solar eclipse, with the sun vanishing entirely over parts of western and southwestern Saudi Arabia on August 2, 2027.
Khaled Al Zaaq, a weather and climate expert, said the blackout at its peak would stretch to five minutes and 55 seconds in certain areas, ranking the event among the longest total eclipses observable across the region in the current century. Onlookers positioned along the track will also be able to catch the solar corona, the “diamond ring” effect and Baily’s beads.
The last time such a phenomenon reached the Kingdom was 1952, an occurrence still recalled locally as the “Year of Darkness,” when the sun disappeared and daytime gave way to sudden night. The 2027 event marks a return of that spectacle after a 77-year absence and is expected to pull in researchers, photographers and enthusiasts from many countries.
Majed Abu Zahra, who leads the Jeddah Astronomical Society, laid out the route the shadow will follow. According to Abu Zahra, totality opens along the Red Sea shoreline and then sweeps inland across a string of western and southwestern population centers and governorates, among them Mecca, Jeddah, Taif, Al Baha, Al Qunfudhah, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran.
He noted that as the moon fully covers the sun, light levels would sink to something resembling dusk, the air would grow measurably cooler, and observers would be able to make out the sun’s corona along with a scattering of stars and planets overhead. Regions lying outside the central path, he added, will still catch a partial eclipse, though how much of the sun is blocked will differ from place to place.
