The solar eclipse wowed the world, and Ireland's only ESA Champion in Education, Dr Niamh Shaw, is invited everyone to join her watch party. You can look back on it all in the video above
Niamh made the trip to the United States to experience the total solar eclipse and wants to share this unique moment of daylight 'darkness’ with others back in Ireland.
It will be best seen in Mexico and across a narrow band of the United States of America from 7.30pm Irish time. During the live stream Niamh will take you through the science behind eclipses, with lots of activities for families to get involved in, and the opportunity to answer any questions you may have.
Niamh says: "I’ve wanted to witness a total solar eclipse all my life. The closest I came to one was in August 1999 when Ireland experienced 91% totality. I was in Dublin standing in the car park outside my flat, with my homemade makeshift pinhole cardboard projector. I saw the reflection of the sun and it looked like a quarter moon through my viewing apparatus. It was incredible to see it with my own eyes. And then, at the moment of 91% totality, which lasted about a minute, the sunlight dimmed, the birds stopped chirping & the air became markedly cooler. And yet it was 11.11am in the morning!"
"This shadow caused by the moon traversing across the path of the sun made me suddenly aware of being a part of a system of moving objects much, much bigger than myself’, Niamh continues. ‘I felt utterly inconsequential in that moment and that all my daily priorities were a mere distraction from the true reality of these enormous spinning celestial objects. It was deeply humbling and a shape shifting moment in my perception of our place in space."
That partial eclipse in 1999 became the motivator for Niamh to get to Texas and witness the upcoming solar eclipse this evening.
Niamh explains the solar eclipse
As the moon’s shadow (caused by the Sun) moves across Earth, this creates a narrow path of complete darkness (known as totality) directly below. Other parts of the world outside of this path of totality will also get a chance to experience this shadow, but only partially so.
While perhaps not as spectacular, Ireland will experience a partial eclipse across the country from 7.55pm GMT until sunset. If you have special eclipse viewing glasses and weather permitting, go outside where you can observe 44% obscuration (in Belmullet Co Mayo) of the sun to 15% (in Dublin).
Lasting almost two hours, the total solar eclipse will be observed across Mexico, Texas, into Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and onwards into Canada.
Just like Ireland’s partial eclipse in 1999, the air will get markedly cooler and wildlife will behave as if it is While it is extremely rare for a total solar eclipse to occur in the same place on Earth, there is always at least one (and usually two) occurrences somewhere on the planet each year.
The United States of America have had a fortunate run of luck in eclipses; the last total solar eclipse occurred in 2017 and they predict another to pass across North America in 2044. Sometimes total solar eclipses occur over oceans, sometimes at night and so when they occur across cities, they are especially exciting events in the celestial calendar.
Find out more about Niamh on her website.
And she has some great content on RTÉ Learn too!
