Solar Eclipse – March 20th

On Friday 20th March a total solar eclipse will take place across the Faroe Islands, 150 miles north of Scotland. The whole of the UK will experience a partial eclipse of 80% and above.

In the CALL area a deep partial eclipse will be visible with 97% of the sun being covered by the moon at the point of totality. These events are extremely rare and the next deep partial eclipses visible in the area will be 2026 and then in 2090. If the weather clears the start of the eclipse will be seen at 08:32 with the maximum at 09:37 and finishing at 10:45. The direction at the maximum will be 134° (south east) and at an altitude of 24° so any good vantage point will provide a spectacular view if the weather plays ball.

If we are lucky with the weather please remember that you should never look directly at the eclipse even with sunglasses or just for a second, only special eclipse glasses or projecting the image onto a screen are considered safe.

For an animation of the eclipse seen from Inverness follow the link http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/uk/inverness