This week a total solar eclipse was visible in the evening sky, with 90% or more coverage visible across large parts of Europe, and total coverage in Spain, Portugal, Iceland and Greenland.
However as exciting as it may have been for the media, it is not clear if it drew as much excitement as the 1999 solar eclipse exactly 27 years and 1 day prior, with total coverage in the UK.
That particular event drew sufficient media attention that one of the UK’s most popular soap operas actively featured the eclipse as part of a storyline, having a core cast member propose engagement when the eclipse reached its peak and forming the ‘ring’ of obscuring the sun leaving only its corona visible.