On 20 March, people on the Faroe Islands will experience a total solar eclipse. The Faroe Islands, a self-governing nation within Denmark, estimates that around 8,000 visitors will visit the island of 50,000 for the big event.

A total eclipse, when the moon blocks the sun and its shadow falls on the Earth, will sweep across the Atlantic but from land it will only be visible from the Norwegian Arctic islands of Svalbard and the Faroe Islands.

Retired US astrophysicist Fred Espenak, otherwise known has 'Mr Eclipse', said a total eclipse was the most spectacular thing he had ever seen.

"I've seen aurora, I've seen some volcano eruptions, but the total eclipse is still the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. And each one is unique, each one is different, each one is impossible to explain to somebody else who's never seen a total eclipse," he told reporters at a news conference on 19 March, on the eve of the eclipse.

According to weather forecasts, skies on Friday are likely to be partly cloudy with a temperature of 6C in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroes.

But Espenak said regardless of the weather, a total eclipse would still be an interesting experience.

"Well, you know if it's cloudy it depends on just how cloudy, because there's whole levels of cloudiness. The lighter the cloud cover the more interesting the event will be but certainly everybody will feel that presence of the dark shadow sweeping overhead and the lights in the city will light up and it'll still be an interesting experience, it'll only just be one per cent of what you'd be missing," he said.

A partial eclipse will be seen in north Africa, Europe and north Asia.

In London, for instance, 84 per cent of the sun will be covered by the moon.

Espenak, who has written several books on eclipse predictions, said the event was still surrounded by a lot of superstition and fear.

"You know it's interesting, we get jaded about knowing the mechanics of what takes place during an eclipse and understanding everything happening, but many parts of the world there is still a tremendous amount of fear surrounding eclipses, and superstitions, people locking themselves indoors, beliefs that looking at the eclipse will cause abortions or problems with pregnancies so it's amazing that even in today's age much of the world are still fearful of this natural event,"

"You know it's interesting, we get jaded about knowing the mechanics of what takes place during an eclipse and understanding everything happening, but in many parts of the world there's still a tremendous amount of fear surrounding eclipses, and superstitions, people locking themselves indoors, beliefs that looking at the eclipse will cause abortions or problems with pregnancies so it's amazing that even in today's age much of the world are still fearful of this natural event," he said.

It will be the first total eclipse on the islands since 1954, with the next expected in 2245.

Espenak said no two eclipses were the same.

"The phenomena, well, it can be affected by the weather conditions because one hopes that it's perfectly crystal clear, but then the size, the ratio between the moon and the sun, sizes is a little bit different with each eclipse so where the beads form as the moon covers the sun at second and third contacts are always different. The shape of the corona is dramatically different, not only from eclipse to eclipse, but from day to day, from space craft imagery, so the corona itself is always dramatically different at each eclipse. Time of day has a big role on it, how high the sun in the sky? Is it right overhead, is it low, it starts picking up the colours of low altitude sun in the evening for sunrise or sunset? So all these things play into the effect," said Espenak.

In the best of cases, with clear skies, the northern lights may also be visible during the morning eclipse.

More about the Solar Eclipse