In the UK, the eclipse will cause darkness (obscuration) that ranges from 97% to the north to 85% south. Most of Europe, north Asia and northern Africa will be covered by the Moon’s shadow. The Faroe Islands will experience a complete blackout. The Moon’s movement inbetween the Sun and Earth causes an eclipse of the Sun or solar eclipse. This is when it blocks out sunlight. When this occurs, the Moon casts two shadows onto Earth’s surface: the smaller umbra (total darkness) and the bigger penumbra. According to the British Astronomical Association, a partial eclipse can be observed from all European countries. The partial phase of the eclipse will also be visible from the Faroe Islands on March th. The eclipse starts at 07: 41 GMT and ends at 11: 50 GMT. Amateur astronomers are urging Brits to make the best of this eclipse, because there won’t be another one for 11 years (August 11th, 2026). According to the Met Office, the maximum duration of the total Eclipse will last 2 minutes and 24 second. This can be seen off the Faroe Islands coast. On the Isle of Lewis (largest island in the Western Isles of Scotland), the UK’s deepest partial eclipse will occur at 9: 36 pm. The sun will then be obscured on the Isle of Lewis. The Supermoon will occur in the night before the eclipse, which is when the moon and Earth are at their closest. The Moon and Earth will remain as close to one another as possible. In this 2015 spring Equinox, there will be the Supermoon Eclipse. A Supermoon eclipse and equinox will both occur on the same day. Eye protection during an eclipse. You shouldn’t look directly at the sun, even during partial eclipses. Your eyes could be seriously damaged. The US space agency NASA advises that the Sun cannot be seen safely without protection during a partial eclipse or annular eclipse. It is not safe to see partial eclipses or annular total eclipses without special protections. You can use special filters or project the image onto a monitor to see the Sun during an eclipse. According to the British Astronomical Association’s Solar Eclipse Safety Code page, “DON’T look at the Sun using sunglasses, single or multiple, made from black and white, colour or photographic film or any combination thereof, including crossed polarisers, gelatin filters or CDs, CD-ROMs, or photographic filters. They are not safe. “Do NOT view the Sun through any other filters than those designed for solar viewing. aluminised mylar filters, or black polymer filters, identified as suitable for direct viewing of the Sun, bearing the CE mark AND a statement that it conforms to European Community Directive 89/686/EEC, or use a welder’s glass rated at No. 14 and higher Follow the instructions of the manufacturer. Pinhole projector camera (also known as a pinhole camera) is able to project an inverted view of the Sun and the Moon onto a screen. You will need two sheets of regular printing paper. White cardboard can also be used. A pin or thumbtack. Easy to create, pinhole cameras can be made for a very low price. Place a tiny hole on one side of each sheet of paper. Make sure the hole is smooth and round. To protect your eyes, place the sheet with hole in it towards the Sun. The second sheet should be held about one to two feet from the Sun. Move it around so that you can see an inverted picture of the Sun. Solar power producers concerned about electricity supply Europe’s solar power industry is concerned about how it will manage when an estimated 35,000 MW of power disappears from the system, and then comes surging back a couple of hours later. ENTSOE, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, stated that due to the large amount of solar energy, it was necessary to assess and reduce the risk to ensure the continent had at least a level comparable to a normal operating day. Losing 35,000 MW of electricity during the daytime is the equivalent of what nearly eighty medium-sized conventional generating units can produce. When everything goes dark on Friday morning on March 20th, demand for electricity will surge as hundreds of millions of Europeans switch their lights on at home and in the workplace. ENTSOE wrote on its website: “Managing this event on the world’s largest interconnected grid is an unprecedented challenge for European TSOs.” “Solar eclipses have happened before but with the increase of installed photovoltaic energy generation, the risk of an incident could be serious without appropriate countermeasures, as was pointed out in ENTSOE’s Winter Outlook Report of last December.” In 2012, about 10.3% (3% of the total) of renewable electricity generation in Europe came from solar power, compared to just 0.1% in 1999.
