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A woman wears eclipse glasses in Almelo, eastern Netherlands, on the eve of a partial solar eclipse, Tuesday.VINCENT JANNINK/AFP/Getty Images
A partial solar eclipse will be visible across the Maritimes, Ontario, Quebec and other parts of Canada today as the annual Perseid meteor shower also reaches its peak this week.
The Canadian Space Agency says the partial eclipse will be visible across the country, but its timing and amount will different from one location to another.
It says partial eclipses happen when the moon passes between Earth and the sun and covers part of our star, and they should be viewed with special glasses to prevent eye damage.
What to know about the Perseid meteor shower and the solar eclipse
The moon will cover eight per cent of the sun in Toronto beginning at 12:55 p.m., reaching peak at 1:40 p.m. and ending at 2:23 p.m.
The sun coverage will reach more than 18 per cent in Montreal and 15 per cent in Ottawa at the peak of the eclipse, which will reach totality in parts of Europe.
Meanwhile, skywatchers will be able to see the Perseid meteor shower until Friday with up to 100 shooting stars per hour, compared to about five on an average night.
Eclipse excitement sweeps Spain
What to know about a total solar eclipse crossing Spain.
The Associated Press
Across a swath of northern and central Spain, millions of people will have some of mainland Europe’s best views of the celestial spectacle. A sliver of Greenland and Iceland, too, will witness the spectacle, when the sun, moon and Earth align, briefly bringing parts of the planet into darkness.
Totality – when the moon completely covers the sun’s light – is expected to last less than 2½ minutes, reaching its maximum duration off Iceland’s west coast. By the time it gets to a small patch of Portugal and then to Spain just before sunset, totality will have dwindled to a minute or so. The spectacle will then end over the Mediterranean.
Spaniards rushed to buy specialized glasses to view the rare total solar eclipse Wednesday.
Solar eclipse and Perseid meteor shower make a heavenly double bill
Spain’s Interior Ministry said 350 official viewing sites have been set up across the sparsely populated interior, often referred to as “Empty Spain.” Authorities have limited or restricted access to another 123 sites because of environmental conditions or obstacles that could hinder an evacuation in the event of a wildfire.
Rooms in Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital, were averaging more than US$1,000 for Wednesday night as Icelanders prepared for their first total solar eclipse since 1954 and the first visible from the capital since 1433.
Prices were roughly double 2025 rates, according to data group Lighthouse Intelligence. But tourists, many of whom made bookings years in advance at exorbitant prices, may be disappointed as cloudy skies are forecast across most of the island when the eclipse peaks.
With reports from The Associated Press
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An astronomy enthusiast makes his final adjustments in the hours leading up to the total solar eclipse observation in Lodoso, Burgos province, Spain, Wednesday.CESAR MANSO/AFP/Getty Images