Contact: Mark Bailey Armagh Observatory Tel.: 028-3752-2928 Fax.: 028-3752-7174 College Hill Armagh Northern Ireland BT61 9DG Armagh Observatory Press Release ASTRONOMERS GEAR UP FOR GREAT PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE Armagh O bservatory, 1 9 F ebruary 2 015: A rmagh O bservatory r eports t hat t he l argest p artial s olar eclipse v isible f rom N orthern I reland s ince 1 927, w hen 9 7 p ercent o f t he S un’s d isc w as o bscured, occurs b etween 0 8:26 a nd 1 0:38 o n t he m orning o f F riday 2 0 M arch 2 015. T his p artial e clipse i s the f irst s uch e clipse v isible f rom N orthern I reland s ince 1 A ugust 2 008, w hen l ess t han 2 0 p ercent of t he S un w as o bscured. T his y ear, a t e clipse m aximum a round 9.30am o n 2 0 M arch, t he M oon will e clipse m ore t han 9 3 p ercent o f t he S un’s d isc, l eaving j ust a t hin c rescent-‐Sun o r “ smiley” uncovered. Partial e clipses o f t he S un a re n ot p articularly r are, b eing s een f rom a s ingle l ocation s uch a s Northern I reland a bout o nce e very t hree y ears, o n a verage. H owever, d eep p artial e clipses, s uch as t he o ne t his y ear, a re m uch r arer, o ccurring o n a verage j ust o nce o r t wice i n a h uman l ifetime. The n ext c omparably d eep e clipse w ill n ot o ccur u ntil 1 2 A ugust 2 026, a nd a fter t hat o bservers i n Northern I reland w ill h ave t o w ait u ntil 2 3 S eptember 2 090 b efore t hey c an s ee a s imilarly d eep eclipse t o t hat t his y ear, w hich c oincidentally o ccurs o n t he S pring E quinox. This y ear’s p artial s olar e clipse i s t herefore a r are a nd u nusual e vent, a nd e very e ffort i s b eing made t o o bserve i t s afely a nd r ecord i ts a ppearance a nd a ny a ssociated e nvironmental e ffects t hat might b e s een. A s w ith a ll t ime-‐critical a stronomical e vents, w e c an o nly h ope t hat t he w eather will c ooperate a nd p roduce c lear s kies. Astronomers a cross t he i sland o f I reland a re p reparing t o o bserve t he e clipse, a nd s ome a re hosting s pecial e clipse p arties t o s how s chool g roups a nd t he g eneral p ublic t he f ascinating phenomenon. A rmagh O bservatory w ill b e o pening i ts d oors f rom 8 .30am o n t he m orning o f t he eclipse t o e xplain t he e vent a nd t o s how p eople h ow t o o bserve t he e clipse s afely. On S t P atrick’s D ay, a f ew d ays b efore t he e clipse, t he O bservatory w ill a lso b e h osting a F ree public l ecture a t 1 1.15am i n t he S tudio T heatre, t he M arket P lace, “ The I rish S un a nd t he G reat Solar E clipse o f 2 0 M arch 2 015”, b y D r E amon S cullion o f T rinity C ollege D ublin. This w ill b e f ollowed a t 2 .30pm, a lso o n S t P atrick’s D ay, b y F ree g uided t ours o f t he O bservatory and g uided l istenings o f a n ew o utdoor p ublic e xhibit, c alled “ aroundNorth”. T his i s a u nique sound i nstallation t hat d emonstrates t he a pparent r otation o f s tars a round t he N orth C elestial Pole. Those w ho w ish t o l earn m ore a bout t he G reat P artial E clipse a nd o ther e vents t aking p lace i n association w ith t he e clipse a round m id-‐March a re a dvised t o consult t he O bservatory’s w ebsite o r contact t he O bservatory t o o btain f ree t ickets t o t he p ublic e vents. F ull i nformation o n t he e clipse is a vailable a t h ttp://www.eclipse2015.ie/ a nd http://star.arm.ac.uk/docs/leaflets/partial_solar_eclipse_2015mar20.pdf, w hile f ull i nformation on t he S t P atrick’s D ay e vents c an b e f ound a t: http://star.arm.ac.uk/press/2015/stpatricksday2015.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Mark Bailey at the Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG. Tel.: 028-3752-2928; FAX: 0283752-7174; [email protected]; URL: http://climate.arm.ac.uk/. • Page 2 Armagh Observatory NOTES TO EDITORS: 1. There is very little tendency under normal circumstances to look at the Sun in a way that might damage the eye, especially as the Sun is so bright that it is difficult to stare at it directly. However, during a large partial eclipse the Sun is the centre of attention, and with so much of the Sun covered it is tempting and slightly easier to stare at it. NEVER DO SO. It is NEVER safe to look at the Sun without proper eye protection. Failure to use proper observing methods can result in permanent eye damage and severe retinal loss. 2. The principal causes of eclipse-related retinal burns are (i) viewing the partially eclipsed Sun without suitable eye protection; (ii) looking directly at the Sun through the pinhole of an indirect projection viewer; and (iii) viewing the Sun though ordinary sunglasses, photographic neutral-density filters, or a wide range of similarly inappropriate devices. 3. A view of the development of the 20 March 2015 partial eclipse, as seen from Northern Ireland, is shown below, using images extracted from the excellent UKHO website: http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/eclipse/0112015/. This image, which may be used, is also available at: http://star.arm.ac.uk/~meb/Belfast_United_Kingdom_2015mar20_collageA.jpg