Heavens above! It's the great eclipse: Next Friday morning, Britain will turn from day to night for the first time this century. Here's all you need to know
- The Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth in this landmark event
- It will cast a deep shadow over the planet's surface in a partial eclipse
- Unlike 1999 it will not be a total eclipse over Britain - that will happen over the North Atlantic and the spectacular event will finish over the North Pole
- Go as far north as you can to get closer to the path of the total eclipse
- Eclipse glasses, a colander or a bucket of water can all be used to view it
- The next similar eclipse will not take place over Britain until August, 2026
For the first time this century, the skies over Britain will grow dark during the day next Friday with a thrilling eclipse of the Sun. With some parts of the country experiencing 97 per cent darkness, outdoor events will be held nationwide as people gather to gaze heavenwards. Here, GUY WALTERS presents a family guide on how to get the most out of an event that will not happen again for more than a decade.
Get out your glasses: Special shades like this are a good bet for watching Britain's first great eclipse this century, with the next partial eclipse of this magnitude not set to take place until 2026
Who turned the lights out!
Shortly after 8am next Friday, the skies above Britain will start to grow dim. At first, the change will be slight, but little more than an hour later about nine-tenths of the Sun will be blocked out.
Not until nearly 11am will the Sun finally be restored to its full glory.
The event taking place will, of course, be a solar eclipse, when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and casts a deep shadow over the Earth’s surface.
It will affect the entire country as the eclipse travels from the Isles of Scilly and all the way north to the Orkneys.
Unlike in 1999, none of the UK will be covered by a total eclipse. Instead, we will witness only a partial eclipse.
The total eclipse will be taking place over the North Atlantic — it will start from a spot 400 miles south of Greenland, skirt the south of Iceland, pass over the Faroe Islands and the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, and finish over the North Pole.
But even though we will not be plunged into total darkness, the effect should still be spectacular —especially if the skies are cloudless.
With the next partial eclipse of this magnitude not taking place over Britain until August 12, 2026, and the next total eclipse not happening in our skies until 2090, Friday marks an incredibly rare opportunity to witness a phenomenon that has been a source of wonder and fascination for centuries.
A solar eclipse in the Faroe Islands, where hotel rooms have been booked far in advance for this latest event
So where can I catch it?
It’s probably too late to travel to the Faroe Islands to see the total eclipse, as by all accounts hotel rooms and berths on ferries were fully booked months if not years ago.
However, if you can travel within Britain, it’s best to head north — the farther north you go, the closer to the path of the total eclipse you get and the more the Sun will be obscured.
On the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, for example, nearly 98 per cent of the Sun will be covered, while in Dover that figure falls to just over 82 per cent.
That may not sound like a big difference, but it is. Skies in Kent will not grow as spectacularly dark as they will in the far north of Scotland.
The timeline for the eclipse in Manchester. First sight will come at 8.20am and maximum eclipse at 9.32am
Keep a close eye on the weather forecast. Clouds are the greatest enemy of eclipses, so it’s best to make sure you head somewhere where the sky is clear.
The long-range forecast for Friday does look promising — but that can change, of course.
If you want to enjoy the eclipse with a group, consider heading to your local park. Astronomical societies are arranging events up and down the country, and you’ll be able to talk to experts and enjoy a festive atmosphere. Check local press for details.
The BBC is erecting big screens in Belfast, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Leeds, Portsmouth, Swansea, Waltham Forest, Warwick and Woolwich.
What's the best way to view it?
You should never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, even if it is largely obscured.
Don’t be tempted, either, to wear just sunglasses or welder’s glasses, no matter how strong the UV protection. However, there are numerous ways to view the eclipse without going blind in the process:
Eclipse glasses: There are many available online, on sites such as Amazon and eBay, and they typically cost less than £10. Whether they are safe is another matter, and even if you are wearing them, do exercise caution, and perhaps still refrain from looking directly at the sun.
It is best to consult a telescope or camera shop, which should have stocked up with suitable glasses.
Camera: It is only possible to use a camera safely if you have a solar filter mounted or have securely attached a solar filter sheet to the front of the lens.
Sheets are available for about £20 at online stores such as Amazon, and should also be available at camera shops.
Left to right: Binoculars, a bucket of water and a colander can all be used to get a safe look at the eclipse
Colander: No, that’s not a misprint. If you hold an ordinary kitchen colander up to the Sun and cast the colander’s shadow onto a light surface, such as a white piece of card held about 20 in away, you will notice that the holes project an image of the Sun complete with a corresponding chunk taken out of it by the Moon.
This is a fun and safe way to watch the eclipse without having to look directly at the Sun.
Bucket of water: This is perhaps the simplest method — fill a bucket with water and look at the Sun’s reflection on the surface. To make it appear more dramatic, line the bucket with a black bin liner.
Binoculars or telescope: Though you should never use binoculars or a telescope for looking at the Sun, you can still use them to watch an eclipse. After setting them up on a stand or tripod, point them towards the Sun — without looking through — until the light from the Sun is cast directly down their length and out through the eyepiece.
Then, place a piece of white card or paper behind the eyepiece, and an image of the Sun will appear. To bring it into focus, use the ring on your binoculars or telescope, or adjust the distance of the card.
Basic pinhole projector: Take two pieces of plain white paper or card and, with a drawing pin or similar, make a neat round hole in the middle of one sheet. When the eclipse is taking place, hold the paper with the hole in it towards the Sun and project the light onto the second sheet by holding it behind the first.
You will see that an inverted image of the partially eclipsed Sun will appear. To make the image bigger, move the second sheet farther away.
The further north you go the more complete the eclipse will be - hence Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland is the place to be on this list
The dawn chorus – twice over
If the skies are clear, the effect should be dramatic — akin to a sunset in mid-morning. Birds will stop singing and may even roost. Then, when the eclipse is over, they will start a second dawn chorus.
Watch out for the sky wolves!
In times past, many people regarded eclipses with a great deal of fear, seeing them as a manifestation of divine anger or believing that the Moon was in conflict with the Sun.
In early cultures, the Sun was sometimes seen as being eaten by supernatural entities. The Vikings, for example, blamed eclipses on ‘sky wolves’ that would chase the Sun and Moon and occasionally catch up with and eat one of them.
The Vietnamese blamed eclipses on a greedy giant frog, while the Kwakiutl tribe in Canada believed the Sun was being consumed by heaven itself.
Many cultures would greet eclipses with rituals that involved a great deal of banging and shouting, to chase off the evil beings trying to steal the Sun.
Some tribes still observe eclipse rituals, even today. The Navajo in North America do not watch the eclipse, but instead stay inside and fast for the duration of the event, while singing to each other.
Eclipses were also seen as portents of doom by many. When an eclipse took place in France in AD 840, King Louis thought it an omen that he would soon die, as his father’s death had been preceded by two eclipses.
As it happened, Louis was right. He died a month later.
Will it affect our power supplies?
IN 1999, during the total eclipse over Britain, almost none of the country’s electricity was generated by solar power. Today, the figure is 1.5 per cent, and some concerns have been expressed that the eclipse will disrupt electricity supplies.
The National Grid says it generates only about 3,000MW of solar power during a sunny day in March. On Friday, only during the eclipse, this will be reduced by nearly half.
‘The loss of this solar generation will be largely offset by the reduction in demand for power from people watching the eclipse,’ says Jeremy Caplin, forecasting manager at the National Grid. So fear not, there will be no disruption.
Despite the sun being blocked out, the loss of this solar generation will be largely offset by the reduction in demand for power from people watching the eclipse, according to the National Grid
It's a magical moment for science
modern man has learned much from studying eclipses. On August 18, 1868, the French astronomer Pierre Janssen observed that day’s total eclipse through a spectrometer, which measures light waves.
Around the edge of the eclipsed Sun, he was able to study the huge pillars of gas that emanate from it — and in doing so he discovered a new element.
It was named ‘helium’ after the Greek word for the Sun, Helios. The element would not be identified back on Earth until nearly three decades later.
But the most crucial scientific finding made during an eclipse was the confirmation of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which predicted that light from stars would bend as it passed the Sun.
In 1919, British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington photographed the positions of the stars around the Sun during an eclipse and then photographed them at night.
He found that the light from the stars had shifted, which supported Einstein’s
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2994195/Next-Friday-morning-Britain-turn-day-night-time-century-great-eclipse.html#ixzz3UNtqdvtS
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