The solar eclipse will theoretically start Wednesday, the 9th and it will end Tuesday, the 8th.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – If you’re an astronomy buff, and you want to check out the solar eclipse that will take place on the 8th, or 9th (depending on your location) of March, then you will have to travel to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The reason for your trip is given by the fact that next week’s solar eclipse will only be visible in Indonesia.
The solar eclipse that will take place next week is a rare thing indeed. The astronomical phenomenon will start on the Wednesday on the 9th and end Tuesday on the 8th. This is because the eclipse will first be visible on the western side of the date line, where it will already be Wednesday, and will continue towards the Est where it will cross the international date border into the previous day.
The first shadow will cross the western part of Sumatra. Two minutes into the eclipse, the moon will start to throw its shadow on the central and eastern part of the country, enveloping the islands of Belitung and Bangka.
If you’d rather trade Indonesia for a cruise ship, then you’re in luck. There will be one waiting in the Makassar Strait. The sun will be totally covered for almost 3 minutes, give or take fifteen seconds.
The best part of boarding a cruise ship in order to watch an eclipse is the fact that the vessel will be able to chase a good viewing spot in the case in which the sky will be covered with clouds. So the only people that are guaranteed a good show are those who chose water over land.
After performing above the Makassar Strait, the eclipse will move even further east towards the southern parts of Borneo and the northern parts of Sulawesi.
Then it’s on to the Molucca Sea, Halmahera and the South Pacific. The inhabitants of the southern parts of Guam will be able to see roughly 84 percent of the phenomenon.
But the maximum duration will be experienced by the people in the Philippines, more precisely the ones who live on the eastern side of Manila.
The shadow of the moon will leave the Earth somewhere near the northeast part of the Hawaiian Islands. The total duration of the phenomenon on all of the Earth’s surface will be of a bit of three hours and twenty minutes.
It’s a shame that next week’s solar eclipse will only be visible in Indonesia and some other few isolated parts of the world. But the good news is that the Slooh Observatory will host a live webcast of the phenomenon.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
