Overijssel braces for 2026 partial solar eclipse as NOS revisits the 1999 event
On 11 August 2026, Overijssel will see another large partial solar eclipse, prompting a look back at 11 August 1999 when about 90% of the sun was covered in the Netherlands and a Zwolle astronomer chased totality in France.
On 11 August 1999, the province of Overijssel was gripped by a rare partial solar eclipse. The Netherlands lay outside the narrow band of totality, but thousands still wanted a glimpse of the phenomenon with eclipse glasses. About 90% of the sun was covered in the Netherlands, yet that remaining 10% made an immense difference. Gert Gooten, chairman of Sterrenwacht Zwolle and a physics teacher, explained it would feel like heavy cloud cover rather than full darkness.
Gooten himself traveled to Briey in northern France, where the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAEE) ran a summer school and the total eclipse was visible. The Wednesday morning started cloudy, which made the moment tense.
But at the supreme moment it cleared up and for two minutes it was pitch dark. I will never forget that moment of my life.
In Zwolle, around a thousand enthusiasts gathered at the Ecodrome, an educational nature and culture park that closed on 1 April 2012. Everyone who bought a ticket received a free pair of eclipse glasses supplied by optician N. Starrenburg from Steenwijk. Clouds were the main obstacle for long stretches, but now and then they parted enough for viewers to see the moon creep partially in front of the sun. When Starrenburg heard the sun was shining in Steenwijk, he packed up and left quickly.
I really want to see it. We have lived towards it for so long. We will only experience it once.
On 11 August 2026, another large partial solar eclipse will be visible in Overijssel, and again the Netherlands will not go fully dark. The narrow band of totality this time runs through northern Spain, the far north of Portugal and a small part of Iceland. Gooten would have liked to travel to Spain but is not going due to private circumstances; colleagues from Sterrenwacht are heading there instead.
