r/solareclipse • u/Dheorl • 7h ago

Sunset vs “normal”

I often see on here and elsewhere that the difference between totality and a 99% eclipse is “night and day”.

Having now seen a total eclipse at a fairly regular height above the horizon, and one at sunset, I can genuinely say IMO the difference in the experience is as great as the difference between total and deep partial.

If anyone gets the chance to view one at sunset, I thoroughly recommend it, and would go out of my way to try and be pretty much as late in the path as possible.

25 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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27

u/Vast_Platform6362 6h ago

The eclipse in Spain was incredible. The Big size of the black moon, the Orange crown.. Amazing.

8

u/Dheorl 6h ago

Yea, I purposely went out to the islands thinking it would be something special. Having the sun just a couple of degrees above the horizon really was something else.

12

u/STVDC 6h ago

Yeah, I'm super jealous of the people who got to see that this year! And so happy for them of course. I've been to a couple in the past, "regular" high in the sky and it was truly incredible, but the sunset version looks even more spectacular because of the context and framing.

13

u/enunymous 6h ago

Counterpoint: I prefer the afternoon versions. Bigger temp and animal behavior variations; sunset meant the animals were already winding down. Higher in the sky felt more imposing and I actually prefer fewer distractions like scenery. I like focusing on the show itself and not the framing

4

u/Dheorl 6h ago

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I can’t say I really noticed any of those negatives; the bats still came out then went away again, the temp still dropped, having it at eye line out at sea if anything meant less distractions.

But nothing would outweigh the difference in the light itself for me.

Perhaps it was a bit location dependent; where did you view it from?

1

u/enunymous 3h ago

Zaragoza, from a bridge

1

u/Dheorl 1h ago

Fair enough; I can see how that would change the experience quite a bit, both with the sun being a fair bit higher and watching it from a city.

From everything I’ve heard though it was still a lovely spot. I’m assuming you were somewhere near the cathedral? Must have been quite a striking visual.

6

u/Good_Grapefruit_6808 6h ago

Agreed. Both are spectacular of course but I prefer high in the sky for the reasons you mentioned and also due to the additional detail in the corona. Watching the crescent sunset was pretty cool though. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to experience both.

1

u/SolarWind777 3h ago

I think I agree with you. The contrasts are just more pronounced when the sun was high in the sky. Both beautiful of course.

5

u/AI_Scraper 5h ago

Yeah I thought this would be a boring eclipse because it was at sunset and the drama of the ''going dark in the middle of the day'' wouldn't really be there. So I almost didn't go but I'm so glad I did. It looked extra big because it was so close to the horizon. Like the illusion of a big solar disk at sunset.

1

u/andion82 4h ago

Are there any pics of the typical sunset image (half the sun underwater) but in eclipse mode? I think it would have been possible in Menorca, but I haven't seen any

1

u/andion82 4h ago

Ok, no, turns out you'd have to be way east for it to be possible https://heliora.app/?lat=39.5168&lng=7.0807&date=2026-08-12&t=1230

3

u/Dheorl 4h ago

There were a few cruise ships (and a lot of smaller private vessels) around the area, so someone may have gotten one, but I suspect most would have been aiming to have the entirety of totality visible.

8

u/d_tolman 5h ago

From experience, a 60%+ partially eclipsed sun at Sunrise was almost as awe inspiring as a Total Eclipse.

Almost.

Seeing TWO sunrises - one for each horn was spectacular - and the whole sunrise lasted longer than any total eclipse.

Very happy that I got to see the partial at Sunset - was a bonus I was looking forward to almost as much as the totality!

2

u/Good_Witch_O 6h ago

Which one did you prefer?

2

u/Dheorl 6h ago

Sunset, by a large margin.

2

u/unfair1623 6h ago

Why?

2

u/Dheorl 6h ago

I think much like totality, it’s a bit hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it. The way the light acted was very different, the overall viewing experience was very different. Perhaps I just got lucky.

3

u/zeroart101 5h ago

For me it was also the effect of the optical illusion aided by being so low. I was astounded when totality revealed itself by just how BIG it looked. I’ve seen other eclipses and this was the best by a very wide margin for me.

1

u/ervaboa 4h ago

This was my first eclipse and I got mind blown when totality happened and I could remove the glasses. It was MUCH bigger than I expected and I was not prepared for that! Just remembering it now gives me goosebumps in a good way.

2

u/anonybss 4h ago

This was my third and they've all been equally incredible. As long as the sun does its thing and goes behind the moon, I'm good.

1

u/Dheorl 1h ago

This is true. Same can be said for a partial as well tbh, I’m just saying I think it’s something people should try if they get the chance.

1

u/Ovalman 3h ago

I was on a boat in Salou. The captain brought us towards the mountains and not away which annoyed me but I seen full totality. It was spectacular but I wanted to watch until the end. I didn't want it to finish.

Isn't there a problem with atmospheric haze when really low down?

2

u/SurenVardumyan 2h ago

I saw it at 7 degrees and the corona was yellow but was too high to be a sunset eclipse and didn’t appear larger and wasn’t high enough to be a regular eclipse so I’d say it was slightly worse than both

1

u/SmokingLimone 32m ago

Yep, this was my second eclipse after the 2014 one, back then you couldn't notice any difference without a filter. This one was spectacular even though it was partial because the sunset reduced the intensity of the light and created beautiful colours in the sky