--- title: Watch the Solar Eclipse description: A total solar eclipse will take place early Friday when the moon moves between the sun and the earth. Watch it here from 4:30 a.m. E.T. canonical: https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-20T06:27:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:18:43.876Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch the Solar Eclipse og:description: See the moon block out the sun og:url: https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ba32d9d713c111e/6987847d8e06013ce845ade4/solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Partial solar eclipse og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Solar Eclipse twitter:description: See the moon block out the sun twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ba32d9d713c111e/6987847d8e06013ce845ade4/solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the Solar Eclipse by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Mar 20, 2015 6:27 AM UTC  A partial solar eclipse of the sun is visible in Rabat, Morocco on March 20, 2015. A partial solar eclipse of the sun is visible in Rabat, Morocco on March 20, 2015.Abdelhak Senna—EPA by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Mar 20, 2015 6:27 AM UTC Lucky skywatchers were able to spot Friday’s solar [eclipse](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/19/solar-eclipse-what-you-need-to-know), when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, plunging parts of the world into darkness. The best place to see the eclipse was in the Faroe Islands, 200 miles off the coast of Scotland, and in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, which was set to experience a total eclipse, reports the _Guardian._ Starting in Greenland at sunrise, the eclipse moved in a semicircle northeast, passing over Iceland, and reached the U.K. at around 8:45 a.m. local time. But most of the solar eclipse was expected to go unseen as it crossed over the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Weather permitting, residents in Europe and northern Africa, western Asia and parts of the Middle East were able to enjoy a partial eclipse to varying degrees. St. John’s in Newfoundland Canada was expected to see a small part of the eclipse but the rest of North America won’t be able to experience it. A solar eclipse can only happen when there is new moon, and Friday’s is set to be a supermoon, meaning the moon is the closest point to the earth in its orbit, making it appear much larger. To complete the trio of celestial events, Friday also marks the spring equinox, the time of year when day and night are of equal length. If you are lucky enough to observe the full or partial eclipse, experts advise not to look directly at the sun, especially when taking photographs or selfies. \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/19/solar-eclipse-what-you-need-to-know)\] _Read next:_ [_See the Best Solar Eclipse Pictures_](http://time.com/3752275/solar-eclipse-photos/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/"},"headline":"Watch the Solar Eclipse","datePublished":"2015-03-20T06:27:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:18:43.876Z","description":"See the moon block out the sun","url":"https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/","keywords":["astronomy","europe","United Kingdom","solar eclipse","supermoon"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ba32d9d713c111e/6987847d8e06013ce845ade4/solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ba32d9d713c111e/6987847d8e06013ce845ade4/solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Partial solar eclipse","caption":"Partial solar eclipse","creditText":"Abdelhak Senna—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/astronomy/","name":"astronomy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3752021/solar-eclipse-watch-live/","name":"Watch the Solar Eclipse"}}]}] ```