LONDON, United Kingdom — Skywatchers across the United Kingdom and Ireland are preparing for a rare solar eclipse on Wednesday, August 12, with parts of the UK set to experience the deepest coverage of the Sun in nearly three decades.
The Moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, blocking part of the Sun’s disc and creating a striking daytime spectacle. In the UK and Ireland, the eclipse will be partial, but the Moon could cover as much as 96 per cent of the Sun in the best-placed locations.
The event is expected to produce a noticeable change in the appearance of the sky, with daylight becoming unusually dim and temperatures potentially falling as the Moon moves across the Sun.
Where will the eclipse be best seen?
The amount of the Sun covered will depend heavily on location.
The south-west of England is expected to offer some of the best views in the UK, although the eclipse will be visible to varying degrees across Britain and Ireland.
For parts of the UK, the event will come closer to a total eclipse than anything witnessed since 1999, when a total solar eclipse was visible across areas including Devon and Cornwall.
The eclipse will also be visible across several European countries.
France, Belgium, Switzerland and northern Italy are among the areas expected to experience a substantial partial eclipse, with coverage reaching roughly 95 per cent in some locations.
Further north and west, however, the eclipse will become total.
Observers in Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain will have the opportunity to see the Moon completely cover the Sun, creating the brief period of darkness associated with a total solar eclipse.
Parts of the northeastern United States and Canada will also experience a partial eclipse.
What time will the eclipse happen?
The eclipse will take place during the late afternoon and evening of August 12.
In London, the Moon is expected to begin moving across the Sun at approximately 6:17pm, marking the beginning of the visible eclipse.
This stage is known as first contact.
The Moon will continue moving across the Sun, with the eclipse reaching its maximum at approximately 7:12pm in London.
Exact timings will vary slightly depending on where observers are located, so people travelling to watch the event should check local astronomical forecasts and eclipse timings.
Because the Moon will be new during the event, it will not normally be visible as a separate object in the sky before it begins covering the Sun.
Why is a solar eclipse so rare?
A solar eclipse requires an unusually precise alignment between the Sun, Moon and Earth.
Although the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun during every new-moon phase, its orbit is tilted relative to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. As a result, the three bodies do not line up perfectly every month.
When the alignment is sufficiently precise, the Moon’s shadow falls across part of Earth’s surface.
The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but its relative distance from Earth means that it can appear large enough in the sky to cover the Sun. This creates the spectacular phenomenon of a solar eclipse.
The August event will therefore provide millions of people with an opportunity to witness a phenomenon that is not regularly visible from the same location.
Do not look directly at the Sun
Despite the excitement surrounding the eclipse, experts warn that watching it incorrectly can cause permanent eye damage.
The reduced brightness during an eclipse can make people feel that it is safe to look directly at the Sun. However, dangerous levels of solar radiation can still reach the eyes even when most of the Sun is covered.
Eye damage may also occur without immediate pain or obvious symptoms.
For this reason, ordinary sunglasses are not suitable for viewing a solar eclipse.
Anyone planning to watch the event should use properly certified solar-eclipse viewing glasses designed specifically for direct observation of the Sun.
Old or damaged eclipse glasses should also be avoided because their protective properties may have deteriorated.
Safer ways to watch
People without suitable eclipse glasses can still observe the event indirectly.
One simple method is a pinhole projector, which allows the image of the partially eclipsed Sun to be projected onto a surface without requiring the viewer to look directly at the Sun.
Natural objects can also create unusual projections. Small gaps between leaves can act like multiple pinhole projectors, producing crescent-shaped images of the eclipsed Sun on the ground.
A colander can create a similar effect, with the holes projecting multiple images of the partially covered Sun.
The important rule is to avoid looking directly at the Sun through ordinary sunglasses, cameras, binoculars or telescopes without appropriate solar protection.
What if the weather blocks the view?
Cloud cover could prevent some observers from seeing the eclipse directly.
People who miss the event because of poor weather or because they are outside the areas where it is visible may still be able to watch broadcasts and online streams from observatories and astronomical organisations.
For those in areas with clear skies, however, the August 12 eclipse offers a particularly notable opportunity.
For UK observers, the event will bring the Moon unusually close to completely covering the Sun — making it the most significant partial solar eclipse seen across much of the country since the total eclipse of 1999.
