REVEALED: The best spot for Limerick people to witness once-in-a-generation eclipse
Limerick set to be one of the best places to witness natural wonder on Wednesday
AN ASTRONOMY expert has revealed the spot where Limerick people are most likely to get the best view of Wednesday’s near total eclipse.
Andy Le Gear, the public relations officer of Limerick Astronomy Club, says people should consider driving up to the golf balls past Cratloe Woods in south-east Clare, which give a gorgeous view of the Shannon Estuary.
“You’ll get an unobstructed view out to sea where the eclipse is. You should see something spectacular if the clouds break while its ongoing,” he said.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves directly between the earth and the sun blocking its light.
People on the ground will see the sky turn dark and a bright ring of the sun’s atmosphere appear in the sky.
Limerick and its surrounds will have one of the country's best views of Wednesday's eclipse, with the moon expected to cover 96% of the sun at its peak.
Only Mizen Head (97.6%) and Cork (96.4%) have a greater percentage of the sun obscured in published figures.
In Limerick, the eclipse will begin shortly after 6:10pm, reaching its spectacular peak at around 7.11pm.
The celestial display will then gradually draw to a close, ending at around 8.06pm.
The last time Limerick - and Ireland - enjoyed an eclipse was back in August, 1999, and another is not forecast until September 2090.
“It’s very significant. It’s enormous. People should experience things getting a lot dimmer coming up to the eclipse. Even if the cloud cover is still there, which the weather forecast is sadly predicting in the west, people should notice it. Hopefully we’ll have a break in the clouds. I am holding out hope. Irish weather is famously unpredictable,” said Andy.
There will be spectacular views on Limerick’s skyline, Andy said.
“What you’ll get is that sun will look extra big against the horizon, and you’ll get an awful lot of the red hues that you wouldn’t normally get in an eclipse. It’s going to be a really fiery deep red looking esclipse. The corona is going to look very impressive if you’re witnessing it,” he added.
Andy illustrated how close the total eclipse will be to the west coast, by saying: “If you had rented or chartered somebody to take you 100 miles off the coast, you’d have captured totality. That gives you an idea of how close we are on the west coast to get a total eclipse of the sun.”
Five members of the Limerick Astronomy Club have ventured across to Spain, which is one of the few locations in the world a total eclipse will be visible.
Members are already in Zaragoza, Madrid and Bilbao, he added.
One member even travelled to a remote peninsula in Iceland, another of the locations set to see a total blackout.
Met Eireann forecasts the weather on Wednesday will bring spells of sunshine to the east and southeast with a few showers.
It will be cloudier in the west and northweast, with outbreaks of rain likely.
Despite this, it will remain warm or hot, with highest temperatures of between 20 and 28 degrees.