Tarragona will be one of the areas from which the total solar eclipse of next August 12 will be able to be observed, a date that institutions and entities already have marked in red given the forecast of a massive following of the phenomenon. In parallel, campaigns focused on safety during observation are beginning to be prepared.
Preparations for a marked day
The astronomical event has already activated preparations in Tarragona, called to become one of the reference points to follow the eclipse. The attendance forecast and the social interest awakened by an episode of these characteristics have led to promoting preventive actions to guarantee a safe observation.
The phenomenon is not only approached from the scientific or organizational plane. Also from the human impact it can cause. There lies the analysis of Urbano Lorenzo, researcher of the Department of Psychology of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, who describes the total eclipse as an experience that goes much beyond the astronomical.
An intense emotional experience
Lorenzo maintains that the experience of a total solar eclipse is not simply an astronomical phenomenon, but a profoundly emotional event that activates very specific psychological mechanisms in those who observe it. In his opinion, that intensity is explained in the first place by the abrupt nature of the phenomenon.
During a total eclipse, he points out, the sky suddenly goes dark and breaks with the everyday experience of the world. That alteration of normality activates a specific emotion in psychology, profound admiration, which appears when a person faces something they perceive as immense and difficult to understand.
That reaction, adds the URV researcher, forces a reinterpretation of reality. It is not just about looking at the sky, but about mentally fitting something that overflows the usual frameworks with which the environment is understood.
The feeling of smallness and the collective effect
Another of the central elements in that emotional response is the feeling of smallness. According to Lorenzo, when faced with large-scale phenomena like an eclipse, people tend to perceive themselves as a minimal part of something much larger. That experience, far from being negative, reduces egocentrism and promotes more open and cooperative attitudes.
In testimonies collected after other total eclipses, a similar idea is repeated, that of feeling part of something very big. For the researcher, this type of experience forces a rethinking of previous ideas and stimulates reflective thinking. The eclipse, he suggests, is not only felt, but also invites one to think and to seek meaning in what is being observed.
From the emotional impact to the impetus of knowledge
The collective dimension of that awe also occupies a prominent place in his analysis. Lorenzo points out that this emotion could even have an evolutionary value, since experiencing admiration favors social cohesion, increases generosity, and promotes cooperation among individuals. In that sense, he considers that an eclipse can strengthen collective bonds.
That same mechanism, it adds, can also contribute to cultural and scientific development. The need to understand that which surprises has historically been a driver of knowledge, and the eclipse fits fully into that logic of fascination and search for answers.
The precedent of 2024 in the United States
The emotional load of a total eclipse was already reflected in 2024 during the one followed in Estados Unidos. In that broadcast for TV3, journalist Lídia Heredia could not contain the emotion live, a reaction that fits with the pattern described by the researcher.
With its sights set on August 12, Tarragona thus prepares for an exceptional day due to its astronomical dimension and also its human impact. The expectation is not only to see an eclipse, but to live an experience that combines surprise, immensity, and a break from the everyday, capable of activating, in Lorenzo's words, one of the most transformative human emotions, the capacity to marvel at the universe.