In March there are two eclipses. The first is a solar eclipse on March 8 or
March 9 (depending on your time zone), and the second is a lunar eclipse on
March 23. For the solar eclipse, the moon will pass between the Earth and the
sun. The trajectory of the eclipse shadow – the geographic areas where the
eclipse will be visible – occurs in southeast Asia. This will mean that the
solar eclipse on March 8 will darken parts of southeast Asia.
The locations where the eclipse will be visible are Indonesia, Borneo, and
the Pacifc Ocean. There is a narrow band of land where there is a total eclipe,
and locations in the vicinity of this path will have a partial eclipse. The
partial solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Asia and the Pacific, such as
Hawaii, Guam, and parts of Alaska.
People in the path of the eclipse will see the shadow for about an hour,
and the total darkness from 90 seconds to about 4 minutes. The path covers
about 8,800 miles in length (14,000 kilometres). The width of the narrow band
of shadow is about 97 miles across (156 kilometres).
Solar eclipses should not be viewed directly with the naked eyes as they
can damage the eyes. Eclipses can be viewed with a solar-filtered telescope,
eclipse glasses, or a pinhole projector.
Total solar eclipses occur about once a year. The next total solar eclipse
is August 21, 2017 (HuffPost Science, March 1, 2016).
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
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