The IAC brings the partial solar eclipse of 29 March closer to the public

H-alpha image of the partial solar eclipse of 29 March 2025
H-alpha image of the partial solar eclipse of 29 March 2025 obtained from the Teide Observatory (Tenerife), at approximately 10:03 (Canary Islands time). Credit: Daniel López / IAC
Advertised on
References
Blog "Vía Láctea SN": Eclipse Solar Parcial de Marzo 2025

This Saturday, 29 March 2025, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) was able to follow the partial solar eclipse from the Teide Observatory in Tenerife.

Although subtle to the naked eye, this eclipse was used by the IAC's outreach team to raise awareness of the phenomenon among a group of people from the ‘Friends of the IAC’ programme and IAC staff. At the same time, an observation was also made from the IAC Headquarters in La Laguna, which could be seen live on the centre's YouTube channel.

The eclipse began at 09:14 UT and ended at 10:56 UT, with its maximum at 10:03 UT. For just over an hour and a half, the Moon passed in front of the Sun, hiding part of its light and generating an astronomical phenomenon which, although it no longer represents a great scientific challenge as it has been extensively studied, is still today an opportunity to get closer to Astronomy and to the knowledge of our Universe.

What is a solar eclipse and how is it formed?

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is placed between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow on our planet. This shadow is divided into two clearly differentiated zones: the umbra, which gives rise to a total eclipse (when the Moon completely covers the solar disc), and the penumbra, from which only a partial occultation of the Sun is observed. When the alignment is not perfect for a total eclipse, as it was on 29 March 2025, a partial eclipse occurs. Although today we clearly understand the mechanics of eclipses, for centuries these events generated awe, fear and myths in different cultures. Today, thanks to scientific knowledge, we can anticipate and enjoy them as a unique experience of connection with the cosmos.

The Canary Islands was the first autonomous community in Spain in which the eclipse of this Saturday began to be visible. For example, the moon covered 24 % of the solar disc on La Palma, 22 % on Tenerife and 19 % on Lanzarote. The phenomenon took place over a period of just over an hour and a half.

📸 Images and videos of the eclipse and the outreach activity
Related news
Halpha image of the partial solar eclipse of March 20, 2015. The image was obtained with one of the telescopes used in the IAC SolarLab project, from Granadilla (Tenerife). Credits: Daniel López / IAC.
Press release
PHOTO NEWS: Tracking the solar eclipse of March 20
The Astrophysics Institute of the Canaries (IAC) has participated in a number of outreach activities related to today’s solar eclipse (Friday 20 March 2015). Astrophysicists from the IAC with the astrophotographer Daniel López went off to hunt the eclipse, looking for a clear sky. They found it in the municipality of Granadilla, in the south of the island of Tenerife, from where they took pictures of the eclipsed sun at different phases. Another group of astrophysicists and solar physicists from the IAC collaborated with the Museum of Science and the Cosmos (MCC) of the Museums of Tenerife
Advertised on
News type
Press release
Scope
Observatorios de Canarias
Outreach
IAC friends
Outreach
General public
Solar Physics (FS)
Eclipses
Solar eclipses
Partial eclipses

It may interest you

  • Collages of images from the different editions of the ""Nuestros Alumnos y el ORM"" programme
    Photomontage
    The "Nuestros Alumnos y el Roque de los Muchachos" programme receives unanimous high opinions from the schools of La Palma
    This educational programme, organised and developed by the scientific institutions of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), is celebrating its 14th birthday, and it does so with unanmiously high opinions from the schools which have participated in the programme this year. This can be gleaned from the data in the questionnaire circulated by the IAC among the educational centres which participated in this edition of the programme in 2024, which reflect 100% satisfaction. In 2024 the programme included 14 lectures in educational centres, and
    Advertised on
  • An illustration of an M-dwarf star covered in starspots. NASA/ESA/STScI/G. Bacon.
    Press release
    A team of astronomers finds clues on the magnetism of a new kind of M dwarf
    A team of astronomers led by ICE-CSIC analyzed for the first time a long radio-observation of a scallop-shell star in a pioneer study. The team observed the star using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located in Pune (India), and related it to the photometric information from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Las Cumbres Global Telescope Observatory. Scallop-shell stars are a recently discovered class of young M dwarfs. More than 70% of the stars in the Milky Way are M dwarfs, although there are only around 50 recently confirmed scallop-shell stars. They show
    Advertised on
  • Phellower realizando una observación solar en el Observatorio del Teide
    Photomontage
    The IAC brings astronomy to the PHE Festival
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is joining the ninth edition of the PHE Festival , one of the most outstanding musical events of the summer in Tenerife. In this first collaboration, the IAC has organised a series of activities that bring astronomy closer to the general public, thus complementing the cultural offer of the festival. On 21 and 22 August, the IAC offered guided tours of the Teide Observatory, allowing visitors to get a first-hand look at one of the most important astronomical research centres in the world. These exclusive visits provided the opportunity to explore
    Advertised on
Go back