what to expect this Tuesday in Toulouse?
It is, in a way, a meeting between the sun and the moon. A partial solar eclipse will be observable this Tuesday, October 25 in France. With a different intensity depending on the region.
The phenomenon will be visible in the northern hemisphere at the end of the morning, but we will not all be in the same boat: it is in the northeast of France that we will see it best.
Barely 5% of the surface of the sun covered in Toulouse
In the Toulouse region, the spectacle will be quite discreet: this eclipse will not affect the light intensity according to Olivier Sanguy, in charge of space news at the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse: “In the southwest, we won’t have the best configuration to observe this eclipse, it will even be the worst (laughs)! In Toulouse 5.4% of the solar disk will be eaten away by the moon__. In the north and east of France, it will be rather 17 to 19%. But it will still be seen with us. The maximum eclipse will occur at 12:04 p.m.
Precautions to take despite a discreet eclipse
Even if this solar eclipse will not be spectacular, it should not be observed with the naked eye, insists Olivier Sanguy: “We must not joke with the observation of the sun: we can damage our retina and lose our sight. It is therefore necessary to apply the same precautions as for all solar eclipses : you have to use special glasses and make sure that they are not too old, because they sometimes have an expiry date. You really have to avoid the tips that you can sometimes read on social networks. The only valid trick is very simple: take two sheets of Canson paper__, put them one above the other, so that one makes a complete shadow to the other and on the leaf closest to the sun, make a small hole with a point of compass or a pen. You are going to make what is called a pinhole: the image of the solar disk which will be projected onto the sheet in the shadows. And there, you will see the phenomenon without any risk.”
The partial solar eclipse will begin at 10:25 a.m. in Toulouse and peak at 12:04 p.m. before disappearing at 12:44 p.m.