The total solar eclipse of September 23 2090 will be visible across Greenland, the north Atlantic, the south-western British Isles, and northern France. This will be a major eclipse, lasting just over 3½ minutes at maximum and visible in its final stages to many people over a path up to 463 km wide.
The total eclipse begins near the North Pole at 16:16:52 UT, and ends in France at 17:31:10 UT. The maximum eclipse is at 16:53:50 UT, when the total phase will last just over 3½ minutes. The partial eclipse will be visible over most of North America between 16:10:13 UT and 17:37:48 UT.
More information on this eclipse may be found at Fred Espenak's site. You can plot the eclipse for yourself using the table of mapping co-ordinates.
The following map shows the path of the total eclipse. Please note that these maps are approximate. Check with reliable sources before making travel plans.
This map shows the path of the total eclipse:
The total eclipse reaches southern Greenland at about 16:30 UT. The path is 427km wide here, and the total eclipse will last 3 minutes 22 seconds on the centreline. After crossing Greenland, the total eclipse reaches the Atlantic at 16:51 UT, just two minutes before maximum eclipse; at this point, the path of totality is 459km wide, and the eclipse will last 3 minutes 35 seconds on the centreline.
The total eclipse will be visible in south-west Ireland about 17:30 UT. Although the duration on the centreline will be over three minutes at this point, Ireland is just on the fringe of the path of totality, and so will see a much shorter eclipse.
The south-west of England, especially the tip of Cornwall, fares much better, being much closer to the centreline, and should therefore see a longer eclipse, with the maximum around 17:33 UT -- the duration on the centreline is still 2 minutes 51 seconds.
Shortly after this, the eclipse reaches Brittany; then the Channel Islands are lucky enough to be right in the path of the eclipse. Finally, the eclipse finishes in France at 17:37:48 UT, with parts of Belgium also witnessing a brief total eclipse as the Sun sets.
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Copyright (C) 1995-2005 Ian Cameron Smith.
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