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The broadcast can be followed live on 12 August via the YouTube channel of the Department of Research and Universities. The programme will include institutional addresses, talks by international figures in astronomy and space exploration, and observation of totality

The Government of Catalonia will broadcast the total solar eclipse live on 12 August from the Ebro Observatory in Roquetes, as part of “Catalonia looks to the sky”, an initiative launched by the Department of Research and Universities to coordinate preparations for the eclipse and turn it into a nationwide opportunity to promote scientific culture, citizen participation and careers related to astronomy and space.

The Ebro Observatory has been chosen as the main venue because of its scientific and historical significance and because it is the only observatory located at the heart of the path of totality. The centre began its activities in 1904 to study the relationship between the Sun and the Earth, and it was officially presented to the scientific community on 30 August 1905, coinciding with the last total solar eclipse visible from Catalonia. One hundred and twenty-one years later, the Observatory will once again experience totality and will once again become a meeting point for the scientific community and the public.

The broadcast, which can be followed via the YouTube channel of the Department of Research and Universities, will allow people anywhere in Catalonia and around the world to experience this exceptional astronomical phenomenon. The live broadcast will be produced with the collaboration of the Montsec Astronomical Park and the Ebro Observatory, which will provide their scientific and technical expertise to offer rigorous and accessible coverage of the different phases of the eclipse.

The Government of Catalonia will also broadcast the institutional, scientific and outreach programme organised at the Ebro Observatory in its entirety. The programme will bring together some of the most prominent international and national figures in astronomy, astrophysics and space exploration.

The broadcast will be organised into three sections. Links to follow each section are already available on the department’s YouTube channel:

12:30 p.m. – Institutional addresses
Watch the broadcast

4:00 p.m. – Scientific and outreach programme
Watch the broadcast

7:36 p.m. – Live broadcast of the total solar eclipse
Watch the broadcast

With this initiative, the Government aims to ensure that everyone can experience the eclipse, including people who are unable to travel to the path of totality or to one of the organised observation points. The broadcast will also make it possible to follow the phenomenon if weather conditions make direct observation difficult in some parts of the territory.

Núria Montserrat, Minister for Research and Universities, stressed that “the eclipse is an exceptional experience that we want to share with the whole country, but it is also the culmination of many months of work, planning and coordination between the Government of Catalonia, the scientific community, observatories and municipalities”. “We wanted to turn a unique astronomical phenomenon into a major opportunity to bring science closer to the public, inspire new scientific careers and highlight the potential of Catalonia’s research system,” she said.

Montserrat also stressed that “the broadcast will allow anyone, wherever they are, to experience this historic moment and follow it with the rigour and expertise of the best specialists”. “We want the eclipse to leave a legacy that goes beyond 12 August: greater interest in science, greater citizen participation and a society that is more aware of the importance of research in understanding the world around us,” she concluded.

An afternoon with leading international figures

The scientific programme will begin at 4:00 p.m. and will bring together leading international figures, including Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Didier Queloz; NASA astronaut and physician Ellen Baker; Spain’s first astronaut to travel into space and current president of Hispasat, Pedro Duque; deputy director of the Vatican Observatory Pavel Gabor; and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researcher Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla.

The programme will also feature leading specialists from Catalonia, including Salvador J. Ribas, director of the Montsec Astronomical Park; Juan José Curto, head of scientific outreach at the Ebro Observatory and a specialist in the relationship between the Sun and the Earth; and astrophysicist Ignasi Ribas of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), a specialist in exoplanets.

The talks will address the legacy of major observatories, human life beyond Earth, the challenges of space exploration, the search for other worlds and space weather. Before the eclipse begins, Salvador J. Ribas will explain the different phases of the phenomenon and provide the keys to interpreting everything that can be seen in the sky.

The programme will also include the launch of three weather balloons by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat), equipped with radiosondes to study how the sudden decrease in solar radiation affects temperature, humidity, pressure and wind at different altitudes.

Totality live from the Ebro Observatory

The eclipse will begin at 7:36 p.m., and the totality phase will reach southern Catalonia at around 8:30 p.m. For approximately one and a half minutes, the Moon will completely cover the solar disc, making it possible to observe phenomena that are only visible during totality, such as the solar corona and the sudden darkening of the sky.

The dedicated eclipse broadcast will begin as the phenomenon starts and will provide live images from the Ebro Observatory, allowing viewers to follow its different phases, the arrival of totality and the moments following the Sun’s reappearance.