Solar eclipse: Excitement for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ event

Heather Alexander is a senior education officer at the Armagh Observatory and said it is “crazy to think that a lot of the people coming to see the eclipse weren’t even alive back in 1999” – when the last solar eclipse occurred.

“I remember watching that on TV myself and getting solar filter glasses through the newspapers and everything,” she said.

“It’s so significant because we will not see another eclipse like this again on the island of Ireland until 2090 which is pretty insane,” she continued.

“The excitement for this eclipse has been next level, I actually haven’t seen anything like it before and I’ve worked here for eleven years.

“For lack of a better phrase it is astronomical.”