The partial solar eclipse of 29.03.2025
In the morning hours of March 29, a partial solar eclipse occurred that could be observed in parts of North America, Greenland and Europe.
A closed cloud cover was forecast for Zweibrücken this morning. The first signs that these could still disperse or at least show gaps came shortly after 8 a.m. from the direction of Saarbrücken Airport. From there, a break in the clouds was reported at 2200 feet (667 m) and a break in the clouds at 2600 feet (788 m). A short time later, the first gaps appeared, which continued to increase over the course of the morning.
At 11:18 the moon slowly moved in front of the sun, the maximum with an eclipse of approx. 18% was reached at 12:08. In astronomy, a partial eclipse is also referred to as a
- first contact (entry) and a
- fourth contact (exit). This was reached at 12:59.
Not included, as not applicable, are the
- second contact, in which the sun's disk is completely covered (total solar eclipse) or the moon is completely in front of the sun (annular solar eclipse) and the moon is in front of the sun.
- third contact at which the new moon releases parts of the solar disk and the partial phase occurs again.
To mark Astronomy Day and the partial solar eclipse, we opened our observatory in the morning shortly after 10 am. Over the course of the day, we welcomed around 70 interested visitors - including, fortunately, many children. It is always impressive to see the astonishing knowledge they have and the detailed questions they ask at such a young age. Many thanks for this and to all the visitors!
After the eclipse was over, our member Dr. Schad gave a lecture on solar observation, which met with great interest and raised interesting questions.
Here are some impressions of the day, please click to enlarge:
