Partial Solar Eclipse March 20 th 9:32am

Click to watch video

What is going to happen?

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in the UK from 08:30 to 10:30 on Friday 20 th March a school day! It will be at maximum at 09:32. About 89% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. A total solar eclipse will only be visible from The Faroe Islands (100miles north of Scotland) and Svalbard (an island off Norway). The next decent partial eclipse visible from the UK is on 12 th Aug 2026! For the next total solar eclipse the UK will have to wait until 23 rd Sept 2090! The previous one was a very cloudy day on 11 th Aug What is going to happen?

Things you need to know! Safety during an eclipse Do NOT look directly at the Sun! Looking at the Sun without using the proper equipment can easily cause permanent blindness. The safest way to view the Sun is by projecting it’s image e.g. by using a pinhole camera.

For more informa tion on how to make a viewer, click here.

SO WHAT WILL WE SEE?? Firstly: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN! Use the two pieces of card given to you. Hold the card with the hole in above the plain card. Look at the plain card for the spot of light. The further apart the cards the larger the spot. As the moon moves across the sun you will see a shadow move across the spot on the card. This is the shadow cast by the moon. Don’t just limit your observations to the card. Look around you and see how the light levels change. Also, as we approach “totality” what can you hear??

Thirsty for more? Friday morning - Live coverage of the eclipse as it happens – click on image below Programmes leading up to the event broadcast from Jodrell Bank. If you’re interested in either programme you can catch up on these by clicking on each image or going onto BBC IPlayer

Click on image to be taken to a live feed on the Virtual Telescope Project Website