Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email
Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter
North America will be treated to a total solar eclipse today, plunging into darkness during the daytime.
The rare occurrence will see many flocking to catch a glimpse of the Moon completely covering the Sun as they stand in the darkest part of the Moon’s shadow.
But will people in the UK be able to see the event?
– What is a total solar eclipse?
An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon moves directly between the Sun and the Earth.
During a solar eclipse, the Earth is basically in the Moon’s shadow.
Because the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, its shadow only covers a small area of the Earth’s surface. Any solar eclipse therefore will only be visible from certain parts of the planet.
– Can the UK expect to see the solar eclipse?
Unfortunately, the total solar eclipse will not be visible from the UK and Ireland. However, a partial solar eclipse – where a little bit of the Sun is covered, and a small percentage is blocked out by the Moon – may be visible close to sunset, between about 7.50pm and 8.50pm
– Where in the UK can I see a partial solar eclipse?
About 6% of the Sun will be obscured in Edinburgh, 12% in Glasgow, 28.1% in Belfast, and 3.1% in Liverpool. While Cardiff and Manchester are among the British cities likely to have the best potential views, along with County Donegal in Ireland.
In North America, the path of totality – where the eclipse will be fully visible – will range from Mexico’s Pacific coast to US states including Texas, Illinois, Ohio and New York.
It will then make its way to Canada, moving from the city of Montreal to the provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
– What do skygazers need in order to be able to see the phenomenon?
Looking directly at the Sun is still dangerous, but the eclipse can be viewed safely through real solar eclipse glasses – not 3D glasses or anything similar.
However the safest, one of the cheapest and most convenient ways to view the event is by pinhole projection – make a hole in a piece of card, hold it under the Sun, and hold a piece of paper behind the card.
Using this method, people should be able to see the shape of the Sun projected onto the paper, taking away the need to look directly at the Sun.
Even with these measures, as with most astronomical events, the skies need to be clear so the phenomenon can be observed.
– How rare is total solar eclipse?
There are between two and five solar eclipses each year with a total eclipse taking place every 18 months or so.
Total solar eclipses are seen every 400 years from any one place on the surface of the Earth.
– When is the next solar eclipse in the UK?
The next total eclipse of the Sun visible from the UK is in September 2090, and nearby there will be another one in 2026 that is visible in northern Spain, tracking up to Iceland.
The last time a total solar eclipse was seen from the UK was in 1999, although the only place to witness totality was Cornwall.
