Skygazers across the North East have captured images of the fascinating phenomenon of a partial solar eclipse.
On Tuesday (October 25), about 25 per cent of the Sun was blocked out as the Moon passed between it and the Earth.
Members of the public across the region and the rest of the UK have been able to see the phenomenon.
In the North East, the PA Agency took some images of the partial solar eclipse at Cullercoats Watch House in North Shields, while numerous other Northern Echo readers sent in their images of the partial solar eclipse.
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Dr Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society, said the eclipse caused the Moon to block the view of “some or all of the bright solar surface”, and the Sun will “appear to have a bite taken out of it”.
In London, the eclipse began at 10:08am on October 25, with the maximum eclipse occurring at 10.59am, when the Moon will cover close to 15 per cent of the Sun.
Jake Foster, astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich, added: “The eclipse will be visible across the whole of the UK, as well as large parts of Europe and Central and South Asia.
“The amount of obscuration you’ll see will depend on where you are on the Earth.”
He added: “Even though a portion of the Sun’s light will be blocked, it will not get noticeably darker in the UK during the eclipse.”
The partial eclipse ended at 11:51am.
Dr Massey said looking directly at the Sun can cause serious damage to the eyes, even when a large fraction of the solar disc is blocked out.
It is also not wise not to look at the Sun through binoculars, telescopes or a telephoto lens on an SLR camera.
He added: “The simplest way to watch an eclipse is to use a pinhole in a piece of card.
“An image of the Sun can then be projected on to another piece of card behind it (experiment with the distance between the two, but it will need to be at least 30 cm).
“Under no circumstances should you look through the pinhole.”
Dr Massey said another popular method used to view an eclipse is the mirror projection method.
He said: “You need a small, flat mirror and a means of placing it in the sun so that it reflects the sunlight into a room where you can view it on a wall or some sort of a flat screen.
“You may also have eclipse glasses with a certified safety mark, and these are available from specialist astronomy suppliers.
“Provided these are not damaged in any way, you can then view the Sun through them.”
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