Luckily for us, Ireland is one of the countries that will be able to view the solar eclipse on Monday.
The moon will cover the sun tonight and, with all things going to plan, we should be able to watch the spectacle.
If you’ve been online you may have seen the excitement from those in the States. That is because America will experience a total solar eclipse, a one-in-400-year event.
However, Ireland will only see a partial eclipse which is a more frequent event.
Scientist Dr Niamh Shaw has revealed how we can watch the event!
“The edge of the shadow will be seen in Ireland from 7:55pm tonight,” she told Morning Ireland.
“On the west coast they will get about 49 per cent of the moon covering the sun. Around Dublin it’s 20 per cent, but it’s still worth seeing. It’s kind of weird when you’re able to see the sun being covered by the moon.”
She was quick to point out that we shouldn’t look directly at the sun! But you can fashion eye protection at home.
“You can use a cereal box with a piece of aluminium foil and a pin to make a viewer very easily.”
Cut two small openings at the bottom of an empty cereal box, cover one of the holes with a piece of aluminium foil and puncture it with a small pinhole. To view the eclipse, simply look through the other opening of the cereal box.
“It’s incredible to watch and just makes you go, ‘Oh my gosh, all of these things are happening above me and outside of my control’.”
The eclipse will officially start at 7.55pm and end at 8.13pm, reaching its maximum 0.26 magnitude at 8.10pm.
Chief executive of Astronomy Ireland David Moore told the Irish Independent: “If you’re watching this on a Monday evening, around the 8 o’clock mark, you’ll see a small bite taken out of the bottom of the sun, and that bite will get bigger and bigger until the sun sets.”
The west of Ireland will get the best view of the eclipse but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out and see it!