An event so rare, that it won’t be seen again in Ireland until 2090, will take place this evening.
For around two hours, from 6.08pm to 8.09pm, a solar eclipse will occur when the Moon will move in front of the Sun.
In Ireland, we will not be able to view this wonder in its totality, it will be a 94% near-total solar eclipse when observed from Dublin while the highest amount will be up to 97% seen from the very southwest of the country.
This means that 97% of the Sun’s disc will be covered by the Moon. Experts say we will not get to view another solar eclipse like this in Ireland until 2090.
According to Astronomy Ireland, this will be the first of THREE partial eclipse of the Sun visible from Ireland in the next 18 months. There will also a deep Eclipse of the Moon on August 28th.
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas.
Never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye – even during an eclipse or even for a short while as the sunlight contains strong and harmful ultraviolet (UV) light which will damage your eyes.
If the Moon lines up perfectly between the Sun and the Earth, we will have a total solar eclipse – where the Moon blocks almost all of the Sun, but viewers can still see the solar corona – the atmosphere around the Sun – at the point of totality. Depending on how they
The European Space Education Resource Office has published a comprehensive document to help us understand a solar eclipse.
On March 20th 2015, Ireland saw a near total eclipse.
Click here for more information….
