The Moon will pass between Earth and the Sun today, completely covering the Sun along a path through northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and a small part of Portugal. Most of Canada, parts of the northern U.S., much of Europe, and northwestern Africa will see a partial solar eclipse.

Discover will follow a livestream from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where astronomers will use a telescope to show the partial eclipse from London. The broadcast begins at 12:10 p.m. CT. According to the observatory, the Moon will begin covering the Sun in London at 12:17 p.m. CT and reach maximum coverage at 1:12 p.m. CT, when about 90 percent of the Sun will be obscured. The eclipse will end there at 2:06 p.m. CT.

Along the path of totality, the Moon will cover the entire solar disk for up to two minutes and 18 seconds. This will be the first total solar eclipse visible from central or western Europe since 1999, according to the observatory.

Solar Eclipse Update: 10:45 a.m. CT

Today’s eclipse occurs as the Moon moves in front of the Sun from our view on Earth. People within the path of totality will see the Moon cover the whole Sun, while those outside that path will see only part of it covered.

At totality, the Moon hides the Sun’s visible surface, revealing its outer atmosphere, called the corona. Daylight fades briefly before returning as the Moon continues moving. According to the National Solar Observatory, a total eclipse passes over the same place about once every 400 years on average.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich will show a partial eclipse from London today. As the Moon covers more of the Sun, the remaining visible portion will take the shape of a crescent. At the peak, about 90 percent of the Sun will be covered, enough to change the light and temperature without making the sky fully dark.

Article Sources

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:

• This article references information from the Royal Observatory Greenwich
• This article references information from the National Solar Observatory