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Plea to prepare ahead of solar eclipse

We'll experience a rare partial solar eclipse here in Jersey next week, but if you want to watch it, get prepared now!

The moon will almost completely cover the sun on the evening of Wednesday 12 August.

It is the closest to a full eclipse since 1999.

The Jersey Astronomy Club will set up two or three solar telescopes by the slip at Le Braye and will also supply solar glasses for people to wear.

For those who don't get solar glasses, the advice is to create a cardboard pinhole projector.

Neil Mahrer, member of the Jersey Astronomy Club, said:

"You really need no more than a piece of card and a piece of paper.

"If you've got a piece of card, A4 size, and just punch a little bigger than a pinhole in it, just hold that to the sun and hold the sheet of white paper behind that, it will project a really perfect image of the eclipsed sun onto it.

"The sun obviously is a real danger to people's eyes, and if you try and look at the eclipse with binoculars or a scope, you run a real risk of blinding yourself."

A clear evening is currently forecast by Jersey Met, with highs of 31°C predicted.

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