Boffins prepare for total eclipse

It will seem like the Sun has perished in the sky and a small part of you will fear it really is all over - that's it, the world is about to end. If you find yourself screaming, don't feel ashamed. Seeing the Sun turned to darkness transformed a whole Greek army into a gibbering bunch of wrecks.

However you react to the total eclipse of the Sun, one thing is for sure: you had better start planning for it right now. The countdown has already begun at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Didcot, which has just launched its own website a whole year in advance.

For scientists at RAL, the eclipse promises to throw new light on some of the mysteries that still surround the Earth's upper atmosphere. But the laboratory is determined that we should all know that a total eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for all of us.

Never mind worrying about how you are going to mark the Millennium. What you should really be fretting about is where you are going to be at 11.11 am on August 11 next year. For while the solar eclipse will affect the whole of the UK, only the Scilly Isles, Cornwall and south Devon will experience the total eclipse. The British mainland has not seen such an eclipse since 1927 when three million people travelled up to the north of England to witness the event. And that was long before the age of the family car.

Next August, millions more are expected to head to the West Country, with Cornwall expected to be packed to bursting point. The intense interest is reflected in the fact that the RAL Website was receiving 1,000 hits an hour at one stage.

There is now little doubt that the 1999 eclipse will be seen by the most people ever and will cover the largest land mass in history.

So what can we expect? Jeremy Curtis, of RAL, said: "In Oxfordshire there will be a 97 per cent eclipse. But that will not be enough to produce darkness. It will be like twilight rather than blackness.

"People will be able to see a crescent of sunlight around the dark disc of the moon. And they will need to use special filters to protect their eyes." But those fortunate enough to witness the total eclipse are promised something of awe-inspiring, biblical proportions.

About 20 minutes before mid-eclipse the skies will noticeably darken. Stars and the planets Venus and Mercury will become clearly visible. As the Moon starts to cross the Sun's disc the temperature will begin to drop.

Then we are promised a brilliant diamond ring, which to many is the finest phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. It is caused by the last bit of light coming through the last valley on the Moon. Then it will seem like a dark blanket has been thrown over the Earth. The sky will be like twilight, only a twilight you will never have witnessed before.

Chris Davis, head of the ionospheric monitoring group at RAL, said: "People have described the strangeness of the colours and some of it produces a quieting effect. Some may whoop with delight, some scream. But it promises to be an emotional experience."

The total phase of the eclipse will last only two minutes with the Moon's shadow travelling across the surface of the Earth at 1,040 mph. During that time, it is said the wind will drop, birds will suddenly begin to nest and goats come down off the mountains. Although only a small corner of mainland Britain will see it, the 1999 total eclipse will cover a larger mass of land than any other in history.

It will cross a wide area of Northern France, only just missing Paris, and much of central Europe, including Munich, Austria and Hungary.

Some RAL scientists will be travelling to see it in Romania because it will last longest there and cloud cover is less likely.

For clouds and the British summer could yet rob the total eclipse of some of its grandeur. "We can't guarantee a clear sky but we can guarantee darkness," said Mr Curtis.

NEAREST WE GET TO TURNING OFF THE SUN

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory scientists will be going back to school for the total eclipse.

A RAL team will be setting up its big experiment in the grounds of Helston School in Cornwall.

RAL's Chris Davis said: "An eclipse is the nearest a scientist can get to actually turning off the Sun. The experiment is to monitor changes in radio reception during the eclipse. A better understanding of how the atmosphere affects radiowaves will help scientists develop better radio reception for us all."

Two students from the school Steven Green and Louisa Tunstall, both pictured, were invited to RAL on work experience to inspect some of the sophisticated equipment that will be used.

IT'LL BE 91 YEARS TO THE NEXT ONE

The Moon orbits the Earth once a month and eclipses happen if it lines up exactly with the Earth and Sun.

Solar eclipses occur when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun. Lunar eclipses occur at Full Moon when the Earth is between the Sun and Moon.

Eclipses do not take place every month because the orbits of the Moon and Earth are tilted at an angle and most of the time, the line-up is not precise enough.

On average there is a total eclipse visible somewhere about every 18 months. But from any one location, total eclipses take place on average only once in several hundred years.

There will not be another one in Britain after 1999 until September 2090.

LUNAR FACTFILE

*The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun. But because it is 400 times closer to the Earth they appear to be the same size.

*The Moon is slowly drifting away from the Earth. Millions of years from now the Moon will appear smaller and total eclipses will never occur.

*The Moon has a similar surface area to that of Africa.

*The first written record of an eclipse is from China about 4,000 years ago.

* If you follow the eclipse shadow in Concorde, you can experience totality for 3.5 hours.

*The eclipse of 585BC ended the battle of the Lydians and the Medes as they considered it a horrible omen.

*Shakespeare refers to eclipses in Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth.

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