A partial solar eclipse will occur on Tuesday morning. The eclipse will also be seen in Israel, starting at around 9:00am local time and reaching its maximum at about 10:41am. At the peak of the eclipse, about 60 percent of the sun will be covered. It will be another 16 years before the next eclipse of this kind.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth and fully or partially covers the sun as viewed from a location on earth. At least two and up to five solar eclipses occur each year, of which no more than two can be total eclipses.
The last total eclipse was seen on July 11, 2010, and the next one will be seen on November 13, 2012.
Last January there was a partial solar eclipse during which 23 percent of the sun was covered by the moon. That eclipse was an annular eclipse, which occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun, making the sun appear as a very bright ring surrounding the outline of the Moon. The next annular eclipse will occur on May 20, 2012.
Caution should be exercised if observing the eclipse, since looking directly at the photosphere of the sun can cause permanent damage to the retina of the eye due to the intense visible and invisible radiation that the photosphere emits. This damage can result in permanent impairment of vision and even in blindness.
As such, one should never stare directly at the sun, even during an eclipse, with unprotected eyes. One safe method to observe the eclipse is to reflect the image of the sun onto the side of a building using a mirror. Viewing an eclipse through any kind of optical aid such as binoculars or a telescope is also extremely hazardous and can cause irreversible eye damage in a fraction of a second.