Although we will have to wait for the summer of 2026 to see a total eclipse of the sun, this Saturday we will have the prelude to that event: a partial eclipse that will be seen throughout the northern hemisphere. It will begin at 10:48 in the morning and lasts approximately 213 minutes.
In our country the magnitude of the eclipse will reach 0.4 in the northwest peninsular zone, the maximum. In the rest of the Peninsula it will reach 0.3 (west and Canary Islands) and 0.2 in the East and Balearic Islands. The magnitude of an eclipse is basically the fraction of the body (moon or sun in our case) that is hidden. In a partial solar eclipse, such as this Saturday, it is always between 0 and 1.
On the website of the National Geographic Institute it is possible to see, by provinces, the magnitude and time of the eclipse. Experts point out that “the eclipse will be visible from the north of the Atlantic Ocean, part of the Arctic, northwest Africa, most of Europe, the eastern end of America, northwest of Russia and Greenland. The maximum of the eclipse will occur at 11:47 (Official time in Peninsula and Balearic Islands) Near Canada, reaching a maximum magnitude of 0.933”
That is, in this specific region, the sun will be hidden in approximately 94%, while, From Spain, “Solo” can see that it has been hidden at a maximum of 40%.
See the eclipse without damaging your eyes
Taking into account how dangerous it is to observe this phenomenon directly and that not everyone will have access to specific or instrumental glasses created with this objective, The simplest method is to project the image of the sun.
In a cardboard or white sheet, you have to make a small hole (millimeters). We put back to the sun and let the light pass through the hole on another blade or a white surface. There is also the option of resort to a kitchen foamalthough in this case we will see several “eclipses”, which is not bad either.