The Sun had a date with the Moon. A partial solar eclipse was visible in skies on Saturday. The phenomenon was seen during four hours across part of the Northern Hemisphere, from eastern Canada to Siberia. The partial eclipse was the first of the year and the 17th this century.
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Curious observers making sure to protect their eyes were able to see the celestial show in most of Europe, as well as in some areas of northeastern North America and northwest Africa.
Eclipses occur when the Sun, Moon and Earth all line up. When they perfectly align for a total solar eclipse, the Moon fully blocks out the Sun's disc, creating an eerie twilight here on Earth.
But that did not happen during Saturday's partial eclipse, which instead turned the Sun into a crescent.
"The alignment is not perfect enough for the shadow cone to touch the Earth's surface," Paris Observatory astronomer Florent Deleflie told AFP before the eclipse.
Because that shadow will "remain in space, there will not be a total eclipse anywhere" on Earth, he said.
At most, the Moon covered around 90 percent of the Sun's disc. The best view was from northeastern Canada and Greenland at the peak time of 10:47am (GMT).
Beware eye damage
It was less spectacular in other areas. In France, for example, between 10 to 30 percent of the Sun's disc was obscured, depending on the region.
Ireland saw around 40 percent, according to Sophie Murray of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies.Â
These smaller percentages of eclipse were not visible to the naked eye.
Looking straight at the Sun – during an eclipse or otherwise – can lead to irreversible vision loss.
As viewing even a partial solar eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous, hopeful skygazers were advised to use special eclipse glasses or pinhole projectors.
The latest celestial show came two weeks after skygazers across much of the world marvelled at a rare total lunar eclipse, dubbed a "Blood Moon".
These events often happen after each other because the Moon has "completed a half-circle around the Earth in the meantime, reversing the configuration", Deleflie explained.
A greater spectacle is expected on August 12, 2026, when a total solar eclipse will be visible in Iceland, northern Spain and parts of Portugal.
More than 90 percent of the Sun will also be obscured in areas of Europe including Britain, France and Italy.
It will be the first total solar eclipse since one swept across North America in April 2024.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)