A partial eclipse of the Sun will be visible in Ireland tomorrow.
The west coast of the country will have the best views, especially where there is a clear view of the western horizon.
At sunset tomorrow evening the Moon will cover up to 55% of the Sun’s diameter.
The full eclipse will be witnessed in other countries such as Mexico, the USA and Eastern Canada.
The next opportunity to see the full eclipse of the sun in Ireland will be in 2090, an extremely rare event that last occurred here exactly 400 years ago in 1724.
Press release in full:
On Monday April 8 at 7:55pm the Moon will start passing in front of the Sun causing a Partial Eclipse of the Sun that will be visible from all of Ireland.
The Sun will be close to setting in the Western sky so those further west will see more of the Eclipse than those viewing from the East coast of Ireland. Depending on where you live, Sunsets will vary from 8:10pm to 8:30pm and up to 55% of the Sun’s diameter will be covered by the Moon making this quite a deep Partial Eclipse of the Sun.
The best views of the Eclipse will come on the west coast of Ireland but everybody in the 32 counties will see this eclipse. Cloud cover will probably be more important than your location in Ireland and Astronomy Ireland are urging people to view from a location with an unobstructed Western Horizon perhaps a large field or park, west facing hill or across a large body of water such as a lake or the sea.
“This Eclipse will be a total Eclipse as seen across a thin strip from Mexico, USA to Eastern Canada. It will not be a total eclipse of the Sun from Ireland as these are extremely rare with the last one being visible from Irish soil in 1724, exactly 400 years ago this year” said David Moore, Editor and Founder of Astronomy Ireland Magazine.
The next Total Eclipse of the Sun visible from this island will not be until the year 2090 however there will be an Eclipse of the Sun visible from Spain in August 2026 for which Astronomy Ireland will be organising a special ‘Eclipse Trip’. Details from the society.
Astronomy Ireland will be reporting on the Total Eclipse in North America but we especially want to hear of attempts to see the partial phase in Ireland, even if you are clouded out as this is such a rare event. Location, names and your story from April 8 should be emailed to magazine@astronomy.ie
Details of how to view the Eclipse safely are on the society’s website astronomy.ie
Send us your report to magazine@astronomy.ie
