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Today we are going to take a closer look at the partial solar eclipse that we will be able to see from here in Ireland on Saturday the 29th of March.

We will begin looking at the whole sky for midday on Saturday the 29th of March. The eclipse will have just finished at this time, but if we move back through time, you would notice when the eclipse occurs, the sky gets a little bit darker. At least it does in this simulation, and in real time I think it may be a bit too difficult to notice because it will happen gradually. If we move through time a little bit faster than possible in real life, then it should be a little bit more noticeable, a drop in the brightness of the day. I hope you get to see it as it happens, we should get a little bit of a dip in how bright the sky is, just about 11 o’clock. That is the Moon moving in front of the Sun. You don’t have to get up too early for this eclipse, but you do need special equipment to observe it properly.

Using the Stellarium software we can take a closer look at the eclipse directly, this isn’t safe to do in real life. Trying to see the dark New Moon almost in front of the Sun is unsafe and pointless, the Moon isn’t really visible in the blue sky. Even with eclipse glasses to help you look at the Sun, the Moon would pretty much blend in with the background of the sky. You might start seeing the Moon when it’s closer to directly in front of the Sun, because the sky will bright and Moon will be darker and may start casting a shadow nearby. The Moon might be visible right next to the Sun with eclipse glasses or with the right protective equipment, but it is a little unlikely. This solar eclipse happens late enough in the day for us. Solar eclipses sometimes occur as the Sun is rising or as the Sun is setting and that’s not ideal, it makes them a lot harder to see. For us in Ireland, at just about 11 o’clock, the Moon will definitely be in front of part of the Sun. Taking a closer look will show us that the eclipse is pretty close to the peak that we’re going to get from here in Ireland. By clicking on the Sun, the total obscuration is shown, just how blocked out the Sun is. Here in Ireland, we’re peaking at just 42.5%. That is the best that we’re going to get to see from here in Ireland. Eclipse glasses are one way to protect your eyes when looking at an eclipse. They are usually plastic and often free if not very cheap, but alos fragile. Welders glass is another option, but you do need a certain glass rating, I think around 13 or 14. Welders glass is usually used to protect your eyes against the light of a welding torch, so it is usually built into welders goggles or some sort of protective mask.

Really, with an eclipse like this one, where it is quite partial, not even half of the Sun is covered, even with eclipse glasses it’s going to be quite bright. Observing this eclipse indirectly, by allowing a pinhole camera to create an image for you, is a lot safer. A pinhole camera is really just a pinhole and the image one can project. Really anything that blocks light, with a very small hole to leave light through, is the beginnings of a pinhole camera. If you have a sheet of paper or a sheet of cardboard, these are often easy to make a pinhole in. Really a sheet of anything that’s opaque, even an opaque piece of plastic or wood would work, but they are harder to make a pinhole in, while still being opaque. Whatever you use, you poke a pinhole in it and you make sure that the Sun is shining on it and through that pinhole. We’re seeing this eclipse here in Ireland not quite at midday, however you would still want something that you’re able to kind of angle towards the southeast. The Sun is not at its highest in the sky, but it is up above the horizon. We’ve just passed the equinox, so the Sun isn’t going particularly high in the sky, at the time that matters its between 40 and 35 degrees above the horizon, so a slight angle may be useful. Ideally, the Sun should shine straight through the pinhole you made. Where that pinhole shines the light of the Sun, put a blank sheet of paper or something similar. Something blank and unmarked, in the shadow of your opaque sheet, with just the pinhole circle of light shining on it. You should see a white circle or a bright circle shining from the pinhole when it is in line with the Sun especially. When the eclipse happens, you should see a segment taken out of that circle, which is the Moon eclipsing the Sun.

That’s really the best way to observe this eclipse, indirectly. You should never look directly at the Sun without the right equipment. For a very partial solar eclipse like this one, even with the right equipment you’re not going to see the corona of the Sun. As such, it’s not really worth buying eclipse glasses if you don’t already have them. It is worth it for a total solar eclipse or even an annular solar eclipse, but not a very partial solar eclipse like this one. I’d recommend viewing it indirectly by using a pinhole camera or some other indirect mechanism. A very common form, or model I suppose, of pinhole camera is based on a shoebox. Most shoeboxes are rectangular, with two long sides, two short sides, a base and a lid. Poke a hole in one of the short sides of the shoebox, preferably under the hinge connecting to the lid. That way, you can point it at the Sun, and the ligh twill fall an the back short side. This means you can look into the shoebox pretty much with your back to the Sun, and see the Moon take a chunk out of the Sun. The lid of the shoebox can also create a little bit of shade, and a little bit of darkness does make this easier to see.

In the Stellarium software, we briefly see Venus as we zoom in on the eclipse. With total solar eclipses we can very often see planets in the sky, if those planets are Venus at least. Bright planets may be visible during total solar eclipses, but this partial solar eclipse is so far from the total eclipse that we’re definitely not going to be able to see Venus with our naked eyes.

Taking a closer look at the eclipse itself, it will begin with first contact at just about 10 o’clock. The shadow of the Moon will creep in front of the Sun from the east, as the Sun and the Moon appear to get higher away from the east. The moon will cover more and more of the Sun, but it will appear to be moving across the top, or north, of the Sun. Just about 11 o’clock we reach 42.5% obscured, this will be peak of the eclipse as we see it here in Ireland. The the edge of the Moon will seem to just barely hit the center of the Sun and then it will continue to move forward. The Moon will leave the Sun, with the last contact finishing up just at just about 12 o’clock. That’s the partial solar eclipse as it’s going to look for here in Ireland. The Moon continues off to one side, eastward of the Sun. This is, of course, very close to the middle of the day, so the very New Moon will be very difficult to observe, you might get to see it if you have eclipse glasses or something like that.

As we move later in the day, the Moon and the Sun will move further apart. The Moon will end up just above the Sun at sunset. That is our very New Moon. I mentioned in a previous piece that some people engage in a good natured competition, competing to get the image of the Newest Moon. This is the when the Moon has just moved out from being in front of the Sun. I don’t think it is possible from here in Ireland this Saturday, I don’t think there is enough of a crescent being generated by the Moon. However, if you were to catch an image of the Moon the day of a solar eclipse, just as the Moon is moving off to the side, that would pretty much be the Newest Moon possible. The glow of sunset and the angle make this almost certainly impossible for Ireland, but if we get rid of the atmosphere the Moon is there. Even then, we’re really not seeing any of the Moon at all. There’s a tiny bit of the Moon illuminated, just barely highlighted along the edge. I don’t know if the Moon’s even going to give an illumination of 1% for that. It does not, just 0.1%, and that sounds about right, it might even be a little bit less. If you were able to image the Moon there, illuminated that incredibly minimal minimal amount, that would certainly be the Newest Moon that you’re able to take a photograph of.

I did mention in a previous piece, when we looked ahead at the eclipses that were coming up in March, that Ireland wasn’t the best place for either, even though both were visible here. We traveled to Mexico for the lunar eclipse earlier this month, where that Blood Moon really looked it’s best. For this solar eclipse, we’re travelling up to the coast of Canada, the Labrador Coast very near to Greenland in Canada. We need to go earlier as well, just as the Sun is rising for this time zone is when the eclipse occurs and looks its best. Now of course eclipses, their best occurs in a very narrow range of locations, so the absolute peak of a solar eclipse or the best viewing location for a lunar eclipse, they can be very small areas. Even though anywhere on the Labrador coast is certainly seeing way more eclipse than we get to see from here in Ireland, it won’t be perfect for the whole area. For a random location on the coast I get 87%. I didn’t think that I was going to get the best location purely by clicking on a map, not the exact perfect location where this eclipse gets up to 90%. However, for a semi-random location, the number grew right up to 88.85. It looks like the absolute peak of the eclipse, just 6:10 in the morning, so the Moon and the Sun are very close to the horizon. This is at about 71 degrees north, far further north than we are here in Ireland. For that reason, I’m sure not many people will be in the location to see this eclipse when it’s at its best. I have seen it reported, online that 92% obscured is the actual maximum that people in Canada will be able to see, just from a slightly different location. Maybe you’re up there and you’re lucky enough to see that eclipse. Even if you’re not lucky enough to see the eclipse like that, we do get to see the eclipse from here in Ireland, and over a large range of Europe and North America. This is a partial solar eclipse, it’s just a bit more partial for us then it is for Canada and Greenland.

I hope you enjoy this little article and I hope that you get to see this eclipse. If you did enjoy this piece then please do like it, and if you enjoy this kind of content you can subscribe to this website and my YouTube channel in order to see more. Thank you for reading and hopefully I’ll see you back here next time.