solar eclipse in leeds
The most spectacular eclipse of the sun for 15 years plunged Britain into twilight for two hours this morning.
In a rare astronomical alignment the Moon passed directly between the Sun and the Earth, blocking out most of the light from around 8.40am.
Northern Scotland had the best view of the partial eclipse, where more than 98 per cent of the Sun was covered. For London and the South East it was around 85 per cent.
Dr Edward Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said the eclipse would be spectacular because the Moon was closer to the Earth than it had been for 18 and a half years.
“The Earth is orbiting around the Sun and sometimes is slightly closer and sometimes further away, and the Earth is also wobbling around on its axis,” he said.
“Likewise the orbit of the Moon around the Earth is elliptical and slightly tilted so it’s rare for the Sun, Earth and Moon to actually line up.
“When they do come into perfect alignment it is called the syzygy effect and when the Moon is closest to Earth you have a total eclipse.
“This March there is an exact alignment so nearly all of the light will be blocked out.”
The place in Britain that saw the best eclipse was the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, close to Aird Uig. There 98 per cent of the sun was obscured at mid-eclipse at around 9.36am
Viewers on Skye and Orkney could see around 97 per cent of the Sun covered. But anyone wishing to see a total solar eclipse had to visit the Faroes or Northern Scandinavia, where the Sun was totally covered for around two minutes.
In a rare astronomical alignment the Moon passed directly between the Sun and the Earth, blocking out most of the light from around 8.40am.
Northern Scotland had the best view of the partial eclipse, where more than 98 per cent of the Sun was covered. For London and the South East it was around 85 per cent.
Dr Edward Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said the eclipse would be spectacular because the Moon was closer to the Earth than it had been for 18 and a half years.
“The Earth is orbiting around the Sun and sometimes is slightly closer and sometimes further away, and the Earth is also wobbling around on its axis,” he said.
“Likewise the orbit of the Moon around the Earth is elliptical and slightly tilted so it’s rare for the Sun, Earth and Moon to actually line up.
“When they do come into perfect alignment it is called the syzygy effect and when the Moon is closest to Earth you have a total eclipse.
“This March there is an exact alignment so nearly all of the light will be blocked out.”
The place in Britain that saw the best eclipse was the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, close to Aird Uig. There 98 per cent of the sun was obscured at mid-eclipse at around 9.36am
Viewers on Skye and Orkney could see around 97 per cent of the Sun covered. But anyone wishing to see a total solar eclipse had to visit the Faroes or Northern Scandinavia, where the Sun was totally covered for around two minutes.