- A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon in which the sun is obscured by the moon. In a total solar eclipse, the moon precisely covers the sun’s bright orb, leaving the normally invisible solar corona glowing all around it, as if the sun had turned to pitchblende, coldly radiant in a twilight sky. It’s a wonderful natural spectacle, worth travelling a long way to witness – as you may have to. It’s only visible for a couple of fleeting minutes along a very narrow track, so you have to be in precisely the right place at precisely the right time, and be lucky with the weather. So the travel arrangements are the key to success.