“Just think of a really nasty child with a magnifying glass who likes to burn ants using the Sun. Doing so allows ultraviolet light to flood your retinas, which can permanently damage your vision. Yes, it is always dangerous to look directly into the Sun. This means when it passes between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon is usually either below or above the Sun in the sky.” Is it dangerous to look directly at the solar eclipse? Instead, the Moon’s orbit is tilted, its path only coming between Earth and the Sun during a period called eclipse season, which happens usually twice a year and lasts about 34.5 days.Īs Baskill explains: “The Moon’s orbit is titled about five degrees. If it did, we’d have a solar eclipse every lunar cycle. There is not a solar eclipse every month as the Moon doesn’t orbit Earth in the same plane as Earth orbits the Sun. Why isn’t there a solar eclipse every month? The country will instead be covered by the Moon’s ‘outer shadow’ or penumbra. This is because the UK won’t be exactly aligned with the Moon and the Sun. Instead, it leaves a red ring or ‘annulus’ (Latin for ‘ring’) visible, creating what’s known as an annular eclipse.Ī diagram showing demonstrating how the Moon’s shadow causes a solar eclipse © GettyĪlthough those in the UK won’t be able to see an annular eclipse, they will be able to witness a partial eclipse. However, if the Moon is aligned with the Sun when it’s near to its furthest point (called apogee) from the Earth, it won’t block out all light. If the Moon is at its closest point to Earth (called perigee) it can block out most of the Sun’s rays, creating a total eclipse. The type of solar eclipse that occurs depends on where the Moon is in its elliptical orbit (remember, it doesn’t travel around Earth in a perfect circle). Solar eclipses happen when the Moon comes between Earth and the Sun, the three celestial objects aligned so that the Moon leaves a shadow on Earth. If you can’t wait that long, a total solar eclipse is occurring on 4 December 2021 in Antarctica. Good news: as that’s a Saturday, they’ll be no need to ask your boss (presumably an omniscient robot by then) for the day off work.
The next full solar eclipse in the UK will happen on 23 September 2090.ĭuring this eclipse, people in Cornwall and much of England’s southern coast will see a ring of fire in the sky for 3 minutes and 36 seconds, just minutes before sunset. You’re going to need be quite patient to see a full solar eclipse without travelling. The next partial solar eclipse will be visible from the UK on 25 October 2022, where up to a quarter of the Sun will be obscured. When is the next partial eclipse in the UK? In certain areas, a ‘ring of fire’ was visible for over three minutes. Only people in Greenland, northern Canada and northeastern Russia saw an annular eclipse, with up to 89 per cent of the Sun obscured. The eclipse looked different in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, due to cloudy weather across the UK – particularly in south Wales and southwest England – the eclipse itself was obscured to many.Ī partial solar eclipse is seen over the Houses of Parliament on Jin London, England. It reached its maximum at 11:14am, concluding at 12:26pm.
The partial solar eclipse 2021 started at 10:07am BST today, Thursday 10 June, in the UK. What time was the solar eclipse today in the UK?
Check out our full Moon UK calendar and meteor shower UK calendar, and our astronomy for beginners guide.
There are plenty of other astronomical wonders you can see in the sky later this year. If you missed the eclipse, don’t worry: you can see our curated gallery of the best 2021 solar eclipse pictures now. With the Moon almost covering the Sun completely, a full ‘ring of fire’ swept across the sky in what’s called an annular solar eclipse.īut why did the solar eclipse 2021 happen in the first place? When will the next one be in the UK? With the help of Dr Darren Baskill – astrophotographer and astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex – all of these questions (and more) are orbiting below. Other parts of the northern hemisphere, such as areas of Greenland and the Arctic, managed to see a more spectacular sight. Meanwhile, a fifth of the Sun was obscured in southern parts of the UK, such as London. In Scotland, during the eclipse’s peak (11:14am) over a third of the Sun was blocked out by the Moon’s shadow. This is not a drill: from 10:07am on Thursday 10 June, people across the UK witnessed a partial solar eclipse.