Visible partial solar eclipse in the northern hemisphere on Saturday

Astronomy fans in a wide strip of the northern hemisphere will have the opportunity to see a partial solar eclipse on Saturday, from eastern Canada to Siberia.

The partial eclipse, which is the first of the year but the seventeenth of this century will last about four hours. It will start at 08H50 GMT and end at 12 noon.

It is essential to correctly protect the eyes to see this show. If the cloudiness allows it, it can be seen in much of Europe, in some areas of the Northeast of North America and Northwest Africa.

Eclipses occur when the sun, the moon and the earth align. When that alignment is perfect, the moon completely blocks the solar disk, creating a disturbing twilight.

But that will not happen during the partial eclipse of Saturday, which instead will transform the sun into a crescent.

«Alignment is not perfect enough for the shade cone to touch the surface of the earth,» the astronomer of the Paris Observatory, Florent Deleflie, told AFP.

At its maximum point, the moon will cover around 90% of the solar disc. The best view will be from the northeast of Canada and Greenland at the peak, at 10h47 GMT.

To see it, a couple of glasses specially adapted for an eclipse is essential.

By August 12, 2026, experts announce a total solar eclipse, visible in Iceland, northern Spain and parts of Portugal.

In Britain, France and Italy the phenomenon will be visible at 90%.

AFP