'I chase eclipses around the world'

A total solar eclipse with the white rays of the sun peeking out behind the moon which is obscuring it, with a dark black sky behind it.

Image source, Andres Latif/ReutersImage caption,

Dr Riley got the eclipse bug after seeing his first one on Alderney

ByJulia GregoryChannel Islands

Published52 minutes ago

The spectacle of the total eclipse in 1999 in the Channel Islands was a "life-changing moment" for Dr Chris Riley who has become a "part-time eclipse chaser" ever since, travelling all over the world to see them.

The scientist was part of the team broadcasting Eclipse Live for the BBC in 1999.

He had been due to view the eclipse from Cornwall but was sent to Alderney the day before and said "it was the most amazing experience of my life".

He was there at the last spot in the British Isles to enjoy the spectacle, with broadcaster Jamie Theakston, in a show which attracted 13 million viewers and said watching the darkness rush in "really sends the hairs on the back of your neck up, it's a pretty special thing".

Eclipse chaser

11/08/2026

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He told BBC Guernsey: "The first time you do anything is always perhaps the most special and, with an eclipse, it is particularly the case.

"You could really see the colour of the water change as this huge wall of darkness rushed towards us at 2,000 miles an hour."

They were joined by 250 astronomers for the total eclipse for a bird's eye view at the top of the island.

At the time scientist and film-maker Riley said: "We've just stood in the shadow of the moon."

'Rushing over our heads'

"Everything went dark. There was this eerie twilight around us 360 degrees. I was so moved.

He added: "You could literally see the sky darkening behind us and this huge wall of darkness rushing over our heads and out towards France."

"After experiencing it there I've chased them around the world as much as I could in those decades since. It all began in Alderney."

He specialises in space flight and astronomy and presented BBC's live webcast from Zambia in 2001 and was also in the Faroe Islands for the broadcaster in 2015.

He has also seen the full eclipse in the US in Oregon in 2017 and in Cleveland in 2024 and was preparing to see the full eclipse in Spain.

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