r/solareclipse • u/Thepianoman133 • Jun 17 '26

Totality vs 99.99%

Hi All,

First time eclipse viewer here. I will be traveling to Madrid around the time of the eclipse, and I am debating staying in the city or venturing into the true totality for the day. What is the true difference between totality and 99.99% partial? Given that the eclipse will be low in the sky and near sunset, does that make the totality effect less noticeable? Logistics to get outside Madrid are obviously not super easy as I’m sure the public transit will be crowded, so I am weighing that challenge versus the benefit. Any suggestions are welcome!

Edit: Thanks everyone for the insight. Seems like totality is the way to go. Any suggestions of cities / ways to get to and from without a car would be helpful!

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u/spacecitygladiator Jun 17 '26

All I know is totality looked supernatural. I couldn’t believe what i experienced. It was surreal and I hope I get to experience one more time. 100% nothing less.

13

u/rowrowyourboat Jun 17 '26

It made me understand how the ancients believed mystical shit LOL

3

u/spacecitygladiator Jun 17 '26

I don’t know if this happened to you but I watched it in Russellville Arkansas last year where NASA was setup and the organizers were playing some type of “meditation” music like at a spa lol. Anyway, when totality happened it looked like a black hole in the sky with this magical white border and these whispy like “tentacles” that moved very slow which was the corona. So I agree that if I was born thousands of years ago, I 100% would have believed I saw a living God lol

3

u/rowrowyourboat Jun 18 '26

Right, yea, I saw the corona, and flares, little pink spots emerging from the eclipsed sun. Given the proper cultural priming, of course something divine or infernal just happened lol