Spectacle in the morning
Partial solar eclipse in the sky – here it starts
Updated on March 29, 2025 – 10:39 a.m.Reading time: 3 min.
On March 29, the moon ensures a cosmic spectacle by partly covering the sun – a so -called partial solar eclipse is created. Experts urgently warn of the unprotected look into the sun.
Like a bitten biscuit – the sun will look out in many places on March 29. Then the moon covers part of the star. Experts speak of a partial solar eclipse. Why this happens where the cover is greatest and what to consider when looking into the sky.
The moon revolves around the earth, the earth in turn around the sun. When all three lie on a line and the moon is between the sun and earth, he succeeds from our view to the sun. In some solar eclipse, the sun seems completely disappearing. Then one speaks of a total solar eclipse. On March 29, however, the moon will only cover part of the sun.
No. Depending on the region, a different large part of the sun is covered. “To see the darkness, you have to be in the shadow of the moon,” explains Carolin Liefke from the Haus der Astronomy in Heidelberg. This time there is no place on Earth where the sun is completely darkened. The darkness in Europe including Greenland, in the far northwest of Africa and Newfoundland, is visible. The concealment of Greenland will be greatest. “Only a narrow sickle will remain there,” says Liefke.
A much smaller part of the sun is covered in Germany. The further you are in the west and the further in the north, the bigger the hidden piece will be, says Liefke. The largest cover with around 22 percent was in the Weser-Ems, Sylt, Schleswig and Flensburg region. In the region Munich Or in Regensburg, on the other hand, it is just around ten percent.
How to see the solar eclipse in the cities:
The solar eclipse begins in western Germany and starts in Cologne at 11.18 a.m., in Frankfurt am Main at 11:21 a.m., in Hamburg at 11:25 a.m. and in Berlin at 11:32 a.m. About 50 minutes later around 12.10 p.m. to 12.20 p.m., the maximum is reached. Another 50 minutes later the moon was completely passed past the sun.
Astronomers and doctors warn against looking into the sun without protection. Especially not with a binoculars or telescope. Seconds are enough to damage the retina. You should only with special “Sofi” glasses Look into the sun, which you can get with optics, for example. Normal sunglasses, hotted glasses, blackened films, solarium glasses or packaging films are not sufficient. Many observations and planetaries provide professional observation devices on March 29. Here you can search for events nearby: https://astronomytag.de/veranstaltungen-suchen/.
When will the next solar eclipse be seen from Germany after this?
The next partial solar eclipse in Germany will occur on August 12, 2026. “It will have a significantly greater darkening than the upcoming,” says Liefke. In some places on earth there will even be a total solar eclipse. To see them, you have to travel to the Spanish mainland, Mallorca or western Iceland. “With the complete cover, you can see the bright atmospheric layer of the sun, the corona. This is something completely different,” said.
Many of us will no longer experience the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from Germany: it only occurs in 2081.
The moon pulls between earth and the sun every month. Most of the time he does not cover the sun. This is due to the fact that the moon railway to the earth’s orbit around the sun is over five degrees, as Liefke explains. In our view, the moon is usually below or above the sun. Only when he crosses the earth’s railway does a solar eclipse occur.
