Six-minute ‘eclipse of the century’ is coming to the Valley of the Kings

Often described as the world’s greatest open-air museum, Luxor, in southern Egypt, has basked in the glow of its grand tombs, temples and monuments for millennia. In less than a year, though, the city of the sun will be plunged into daytime darkness.

On August 2, 2027, a total solar eclipse will blot out the sun over parts of North Africa, Europe and the Middle East, but the longest duration of totality will be observable near Luxor, lasting for six minutes and 23 seconds: the longest anywhere on the planet until 2114, according to NASA. Next summer will see the second-longest total eclipse of the 21st century, behind only the July 2009 eclipse — but that year, the point of maximum totality occurred over the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles southeast from the Japanese coast. In 2027, after curving in from the Atlantic Ocean, the path of totality slices across the base of Spain, Gibraltar and upper Morocco before bending through parts of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia to end in the Indian Ocean. That puts a swathe of major cities within a blackout route that will peak at a width of approximately 259 kilometers (161 miles), including Cádiz, Spain; Tangiers, Morocco; Oran, Algeria; Benghazi, Libya; and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Yet no city can offer a length of totality, nor a backdrop, like Luxor. Flanked by the Valley of the Kings and Queens respectively, the Nile-straddling metropolis built upon the ancient city of Thebes will be a stunning setting for the longest land-based total solar eclipse since 1991. In prime position for the so-called “eclipse of the century,” taking in what could be among the most spectacular minutes of a career spent staring into space, will be Oxford University professor of astrophysics Roger Davies. “Six minutes and 23 seconds is a very long time. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness,” Davies told CNN. “What you typically see is a couple of planets and the brightest couple of stars. I’m hoping we’ll be able to see a lot more.”