90% of Sun to Be Eclipsed Across Ireland
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- The partial solar eclipse will begin around 18:10 BST on Wednesday, with coverage ranging from 93.05% in Belfast to 98.01% at Skellig Michael, making it the largest solar eclipse visible from Ireland until September 2090.
- Ireland's last total solar eclipse on Irish soil occurred in 1724, and none has occurred since, according to Astronomy Ireland's David Moore, who noted this is the first total eclipse visible from western Europe since 1999.
- The Perseid meteor shower, produced by debris from comet Swift-Tuttle, will peak later Wednesday night into Thursday, with up to 100 meteors per hour visible under a new moon that eliminates competing moonlight.
- Astronomers including Dr Rok Nežič of Armagh Observatory warned viewers never to look directly at the sun because retinas lack pain receptors, recommending certified eclipse glasses, pinhole projection, or kitchen colanders instead of unfiltered cameras or binoculars.
- A lunar eclipse will be visible from Ireland in two weeks, making August what Astronomy Ireland's David Moore called 'an incredible month' of back-to-back celestial events.
Why it matters: With over 90% of the sun obscured across Ireland on Wednesday evening — and a total eclipse visible from Spain — this is the most significant solar eclipse event for Irish skywatchers in over three centuries, with the next comparable Irish total eclipse not due until 2090. The favorable new-moon timing for the Perseids that same night compounds the viewing opportunity for the roughly 7 million people across the island.
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