Skip to main content

How to watch this week’s solar eclipse in person or online

This Tuesday, October 25, a partial solar eclipse will be visible in some parts of the world as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. Around a quarter of the sun’s face will be obscured behind the shadow of the moon in what will be the final eclipse of 2022.

Partial eclipse of the Sun, 20 July 1982. Captured from Harefield in the UK.
Partial eclipse of the Sun, 20 July 1982. Captured from Harefield in the UK. Robin Scagell/Galaxy

If you’re lucky enough to be in the right locations, you’ll be able to see the eclipse in person. If you’re located elsewhere, you’ll be able to watch the event online via livestream.

Related Videos

How to watch the eclipse in person

The partial solar eclipse will be visible across the UK and in other parts of Europe, as well as in parts of Africa and Asia. You can find a map showing the locations and times at which the eclipse will be visible here on timeanddate.com.

If you’re planning to view the eclipse in person, the Royal Astronomical Society has a full guide on how to watch the eclipse safely, and the most important thing to remember is to never look directly at the sun as this can damage your eyes. Instead, you can use tools like special eclipse glasses if you have them (these aren’t the same as sunglasses, so don’t use those!) or make your own viewing tools at home.

Two ways to observe the eclipse safely are to make a mirror projector, which you can use a small hand mirror or shaving mirror for, or to make a pinhole camera using cardboard, which will let you see a very small image of the eclipse as it happens. Check out the Royal Astronomical Society guide for more details on how to make and use these tools, which are quick and easy projects that are great to do with kids.

How to watch the eclipse online

Solar Eclipse LIVE | 25 October 2022

If you’re located elsewhere in the world, or if you’d rather enjoy a guaranteed good view and safe watching experience, you can watch the eclipse online. The Royal Observatory Greenwich will be offering a livestream of the event, showing the view from the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope at the Royal Observatory along with commentary from astronomers and discussions about the science of the sun.

You can watch the livestream using the video embedded above or by heading to this YouTube page. Coverage will begin at 5:05 a.m. ET (2:05 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, October 25. If that’s too early for you, you can tune in any time until the eclipse ends at 6:51 a.m. ET (3:51 a.m. PT), or you can re-watch the stream later in the day as well.

Editors' Recommendations

The Tarantula Nebula glows brightly in this week’s Hubble image
A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is featured in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust appear to swirl between the region’s bright, newly formed stars.

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to capture gorgeous views of space objects thst are shared every week, the most recent of which shows a beautiful nebula.

This week's target is the Tarantula Nebula, technically known as 30 Doradus. Located over 160,000 light-years away in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud, this huge cloud of dust is exceptionally bright and is one of the busiest areas of star formation in nearby space. As new stars are born, they give off radiation that ionizes the hydrogen atoms around them, making the cloud of gas glow brightly.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX’s Hispasat Amazonas Nexus launch today
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX will be performing a launch today, Sunday, February 5, of a Spanish communications satellite, using one of its signature Falcon 9 rockets.

Hispasat Amazonas Nexus Mission

Read more
How to see the green comet this week before it leaves us for good
Comet ZTF stuns in this image taken two weeks before its Earth close approach, on 19 January 2023. Look closely, and you’ll spot that comets have two tails, one made of ionised gas and another of dust. As a comet approaches the inner Solar System, solar radiation causes volatile materials within the comet to vaporise into gas and stream out of the nucleus – the comet’s ‘head’ – carrying dust away with them.

This weekend will see a special visitor to the skies over our planet, as a 50,000-year-old comet will be passing by. Named C/2022 E3 ZTF, this comet appears greenish in the skies due to the chemicals it is composed of, and it will come close enough to the planet that it will be visible using binoculars or a telescope, and may even be visible to the naked eye.

Comet ZTF stuns in this image taken two weeks before its Earth close approach, on 19 January 2023.Look closely, and you’ll spot that comets have two tails, one made of ionized gas and another of dust. As a comet approaches the inner Solar System, solar radiation causes volatile materials within the comet to vaporize into gas and stream out of the nucleus – the comet’s ‘head’ – carrying dust away with them. Oscar Martín (startrails.es)

Read more