I traveled the world from the UK over 15 eclipse holidays

On Monday, parts of North America will see a total solar eclipse (when the moon completely blocks the sun).

It will start in the Cook Islands in the Pacific, then travel through Mexico and 13 U.S. states before ending in Newfoundland, Canada.

In some parts of the world, the sky will turn dark for four minutes and nine seconds, leaving skywatchers in awe of this rare phenomenon.

In the UK, only parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and the far west coast of England and Wales are likely to see a partial solar eclipse between 7pm and 9pm, with forecasts predicting cloudy skies ahead. Smaller.

But that didn’t stop a group of British tourists from flying to the United States to watch the spectacle.

Mike Frost, a 61-year-old eclipse chaser from Rugby, Warwickshire, tells us I This was his 15th eclipse viewing: “We traveled with Astro-trails, a group of 220 people, staying on a ranch near San Antonio, Texas. People from Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea— — literally from all over the world, all here enjoying their eclipse vacation.

“I saw the first solar eclipse in India 25 years ago and have since traveled all over the world to see it – which I have to do because the next one in the UK won’t be until 2090.

“The company chose rural Texas because it had the best weather, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. That’s the occupational hazard of the eclipse holiday, there were clouds, but we wanted them to move south away from us and have some gaps. , the clouds parted so we could see the eclipse.”

According to ABC, four million people will come to watch. A solar eclipse occurs around the world every 18 months, and this one was visible across a large area of ​​the United States. NASA said the eclipse will cover several densely populated cities and about 31.5 million people will be able to see it, making it easier for many people to witness it.

While people have been gazing at the sky for thousands of years, travel companies have recently begun cashing in on “eclipse holidays,” with some eclipse viewing packages costing just over £4,149.

Meanwhile, Delta, United and Southwest Airlines all operate flights so passengers can view the eclipse from 30,000 feet. Delta’s flight from Austin to Detroit sold out in less than 24 hours.

Kevin Currie, director of New Scientist Discovery Tours, tells us I Interest in eclipse tours has increased significantly in recent years.

“We have four groups with 120 people in total – many British, Austrian, German and Luxembourgish.”

“Most people have seen it before and it’s a great way to experience the best of a country, attending expert lectures, stargazing and visiting the region’s observatories, surrounded by curious guests from around the world.

“We went to Australia last year and had a boat off the coast of Australia. We’ve doubled the number of customers this year and we’ve had a lot of inquiries for next year’s eclipse off the coast of Greenland and Iceland and we’ll be taking people to the most Great place, and the best vantage point in the world to watch a solar eclipse. Eclipse.”