Five citizen science projects are being offered for solar eclipse 2026 on 12 August, giving people outside professional science a way to help collect data while scientists rush to study the sun. The eclipse will be visible over parts of Europe and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, with a partial eclipse covering much of Europe, Canada, north-west Africa and parts of the US.
The projects turn a rare sky event into a data-collection window. An eclipse like this is visible from somewhere on Earth just once every 18 months approximately, and scientists will be watching for measurements that are hard to collect at any other time.
SunSketcher and Gaia4Sustainability
SunSketcher is a smartphone app that takes carefully timed pictures during the eclipse. It captures Baily’s Beads, also called the diamond ring effect. When lots of photos of the beads are combined with a map of the lunar topography, they can give an extraordinarily precise measurement of how far the disc of the sun is from a perfect circle.
Gaia4Sustainability uses a small device with sensors to measure the brightness of the sky and other meteorological factors. It aims to measure light pollution, and the device can keep collecting useful data all year round.
Shadow bands during totality
The shadow bands project focuses on the faint bands that appear in the moments before and after a total solar eclipse. It aims to quantify how the bands differ based on altitude and distance from the centre of totality, giving citizen observers a direct role in comparing observations from different locations.
That creates the article’s main practical point: the public is not just watching the eclipse. With a phone, a sensor device or careful observation, non-scientists can generate data that researchers will use to study the sun during the August 2026 solar eclipse.
12 August total solar eclipse
On 12 August, a total solar eclipse will occur, and scientists from around the world will have their eyes and scientific instruments on the sun. For readers who want to take part, the available projects show three different kinds of contribution: timed photos, sensor readings and observations of shadow bands.
Which of the five citizen science projects are the most important depends on what a reader can access and do well, but the clear takeaway is simpler: the 12 August total solar eclipse is not only something to watch, it is something the public can help measure.
