Starwatch: Deep partial solar eclipse in UK to precede the Perseids

The eclipse will begin just after 6pm on 12 August, reaching its maximum just over an hour later

The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak this week on the night of 12-13 August, and this year comes with an added bonus. Earlier on 12 August, a deep partial solar eclipse will be visible across the UK.

The partial solar eclipse begins shortly after 6pm BST and reaches its maximum at around 7.13pm. From much of the country, about 90% of the sun’s diameter will be obscured, making this the deepest solar eclipse visible here since 1999. The sun will be low in the western sky throughout the event, so choose a location with a clear horizon.

Remember that it is never safe to look directly at the sun without certified eclipse glasses or a properly filtered telescope or binoculars.

As dusk gives way to darkness, the moon and the sun slip from view below the horizon to leave a moonless night. This will provide ideal conditions for the Perseids.

The shower is produced as Earth ploughs through a stream of dust left behind by Comet Swift–Tuttle. Each tiny grain strikes our atmosphere at about 60 kilometres per second, burning up in a brief flash that we see as a shooting star.