Total Solar Eclipse Live 2015: Best Places to Witness the Spring Equinox Event
On Friday, 20 March, the Moon will completely cover the Sun, creating a celestial wonder that only a small part of the world will get to witness.
The total solar eclipse 2015, which is occurring on the spring equinox, will be a hybrid eclipse of sorts, which means in some countries it will be a total eclipse, while in others it will look like an annular eclipse.
But that is not all, there are two other other rare celestial events that will be taking place before the solar eclipse: a Supermoon and the Spring equinox. A Supermoon, or perigee moon, happens when the full or new moon passes the closest by the Earth, making it look way bigger that what it normally is. And during the spring equinox, the day and night are of equal duration.
The eclipse will be most prominent over North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The eclipse will start from Greenland and will work its way counterclockwise towards the northeast, while passing by Iceland and the United Kingdom.
The total solar eclipse will be the first since 3 November 2013 and in the United Kingdom, it will the deepest eclipse since 1999, and it will remain so until 2026.
For this eclipse, up to 97% of the Sun will be blocked out.
Eclipse Timing and Coverage for United Kingdom
Observers in UK will be treated to an impressive partial event. Please note that the eclipse time and coverage will vary from north to south.
In Edinburgh the partial eclipse will start at 8:30am UTC and the city will witness deepest eclipse at 9:35am UTC as 93% of the Sun gets covered. In Manchester, the event begins at 8:26am UTC and it will reach its peak at 9:32am UTC. London will witness an 84% eclipse, beginning at 8:24am UTC and peaking at 9:30am UTC.
To watch the celestial phenomena, the Equinox Sun, safely, Londoners can even head to The Royal Observatory Greenwich, which will be open from 8am and witness the eclipse in the company of expert astronomers.
Similarly, the Flamsteed Astronomy Society, the Royal Astronomical Society, Baker Street Irregular Astronomers, the Hampstead Scientific Society and Northolt Branch Astro will be setting up special equipment for skygazers on 20 March to view the celestial event live as it unfolds.
In the mean time, in Norway, where the islands of Svalbard would witness a total ecplise starting from 7:41am UTC and ending at 11:50am UTC, local officials have asked skygazers to be on alert from polar bears. Daily Mail reported that Svalbard is home to about 3,000 polar bears and has cautioned tourists that "they attack without warning."
The local eclipse times for cities in Europe can be viewed at eclipsewise.com. The website also has a map of eclipse times in the Atlantic, Africa and Asia.
Watch Total Solar Eclipse 2015 Live
A large numbers of people across the globe will be missing out on the last solar eclipse of 2015, however, there they can all witness the eclipse from the comfort of their homes and watch it live.
The eclipse can be witnessed live online. The online Slooh Community Observatory will broadcast live views of the solar eclipse through its website Slooh.com from 8:30am UTC.
The total solar eclipse webcast will also be available on Space.com on 20 March. The Virtual Telescope Project will have a live coverage of the eclipse at 8am UTC.
Regions Witnessing Total and Partial Solar Eclipse
According to TimeandDate.com, Svalbard (Norway) and the Faroe Islands will have a total eclipse.
A partial eclipse will be seen in Europe, North and East Asia, North and West Africa, North America, Atlantic and Arctic.
Cities where at least part of the total eclipse is visible:
- Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, Faroe Islands
- Klaksvík, Faroe Islands, Faroe Islands
- Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway
- Barentsburg, Svalbard, Norway
- Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
Cities where partial eclipse is visible:
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Madrid, Spain
- Dublin, Ireland
- Paris, France
- Nuuk, Greenland
- London, the UK
- Douglas, Isle of Man
- Brussels, Belgium
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Oslo, Norway
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Alert, Nunavut Territory, Canada
- Tallinn, Estonia
- Helsinki, Finland
- Rovaniemi, Finland
- Moscow, Russia
- Belushya Guba, Russia
