Cornwall eclipse on Wednesday: how to watch without harming your eyes

On Wednesday 12 August, look to the west in the evening and you will see the Moon slide across the Sun until almost all of it is gone. From Cornwall, up to around 95% of the Sun will be hidden at the peak, one of the deepest partial eclipses anywhere in the country. It is a rare thing to catch from your own doorstep. It is also one glance away from lasting damage to your sight, which is why the advice below matters as much as the spectacle.

That warning comes from David Jones, a Consultant Ophthalmologist with the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, who has recorded a short piece of advice on watching the eclipse safely. The message is simple. A partial eclipse is not a safe moment to look up. Even with most of the Sun covered, the sliver that remains is bright enough to burn the back of your eye, and it happens without any pain to warn you.

When and where to see it in Cornwall

The eclipse builds through the evening of Wednesday 12 August as the Sun drops towards the horizon. Across Cornwall the Moon starts to bite into the Sun at around 6:15pm, reaches its maximum at roughly 7:13pm, and finishes near 8:07pm, all in BST. Times shift by a minute or two depending on where you stand.

Coverage climbs the further southwest you go. Truro sees close to 95%, Land’s End reaches 95.8%, Lizard Point 95.6%, and from the Isles of Scilly the figure touches 96.5%. Wherever you are, the Sun will be low in the west-northwest sky as the eclipse peaks, sinking towards sunset. That means a clear, unobstructed view towards the horizon makes all the difference. Buildings, trees, or a bank of distant cloud out to sea could hide the best of it.

📷Smiling young woman wearing protective paper glasses to safely watch solar eclipse outdoors.

How to watch the eclipse safely

The one rule that covers everything: never look straight at the Sun, not with the naked eye and not through anything that gathers light. Protecting your eye health here is straightforward if you use the right kit.

Certified eclipse glasses are the simplest option. Look for ones marked to the ISO 12312-2 standard, and check the lenses are not scratched, creased, or split before you put them on. Ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe and offer nowhere near enough protection.

A pinhole projector is a good no-cost method that keeps your eyes pointed away from the Sun entirely. Poke a small hole in a piece of card and let the light fall through onto a second surface, and you will see the crescent Sun projected on it. A colander, or the gaps between leaves on a tree, will do the same trick.

If you want to use binoculars or a telescope, they must have a proper solar filter fitted to the front. Pointing an unfiltered telescope or binoculars at the Sun, even for a second, can cause serious injury. Local astronomical societies often run safe viewing sessions with the right filters already set up. And if the Cornish cloud rolls in, the Royal Observatory Greenwich plans to stream the eclipse live online.

If you are driving to a vantage point

Plenty of people will head for a clear western horizon to watch, and the roads and lanes out to the coast can fill quickly. Park safely and responsibly in official car parks and marked areas. Do not leave your car on verges, kerbs, or pavements where it becomes an obstruction. Emergency vehicles need to get everywhere, at all times, and a badly parked car on a narrow lane can hold up an ambulance or a fire engine when minutes count.

Mind the fire risk

The countryside is tinder dry at the moment, so take care with anything that can spark. Avoid using barbecues at viewing spots, and be careful how you put out and dispose of cigarettes, especially in rural and coastal locations where a single ember can take hold. And whatever you take out with you to enjoy the evening, take your litter home again.

The far southwest has not seen the Sun this deeply hidden since the total eclipse crossed Cornwall in August 1999. As the light drains on Wednesday evening the Sun will be barely a degree or two above the sea before it sets, so the people with the clearest view west will get the most out of it.

📷Woman and dog wearing solar eclipse glasses while looking up at the sky from a grassy lawn