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Don’t Miss This Rare Solar Eclipse on March 8-9

March 3, 2016 | Joanne Kennell

Solar eclipse
Photo credit: PeteLinforth/Pixabay

The next one won’t happen until August of 2017.

A very rare event is about to happen on March 8 (March 9 local time in Asia) — a total solar eclipse!  Amazingly, it will last over a minute in every location on its path.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes exactly between the sun and Earth, which  usually happens just once a year because the moon and sun do not orbit in the exact same plane.  When this occurs, it completely blocks the sun’s rays and all that is visible is the faint glow of the corona.

“The moon blocks the light of the sun's surface very, very precisely,” said Sarah Jaeggli, a space scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland in a press release.  “You can see all the way down to the roots of the corona, where the atmosphere meets the sun’s surface.”

SEE ALSO: 11 Astronomical Events You Won’t Want to Miss in 2016

Total solar eclipses are possible because of planetary geometry: The sun is 400 times wider than the moon, however it is also a little more than 400 times farther away from Earth.  So, during total solar eclipses, the two appear the same size in the sky, allowing the moon to completely block out the sun’s face.

The path the shadow takes is known as the path of totality, and at its widest point, it will cover an area of just 14,162 kilometers (8,800 miles) long and 156 km (97 miles) on Earth’s surface.  Below is a video showing the path of the eclipse.

 

People living in southeast Asia are the lucky spectators this time — those in Indonesia, New Guinea and Borneo will be able to see the total eclipse, while people outside its main path will see varying degrees of it.  For example, Hawaii and Alaska will be able to see a partial eclipse, as well as those living in northern Australia.  

“You notice something off about the sunlight as you reach totality,” said Jaeggli.  “Your surroundings take on a twilight cast, even though it’s daytime and the sky is still blue.”

The eclipse will begin shortly after 6 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) over Indonesia and then continue to move northeastwards for the next 3 hours.

If you want to see the eclipse but don’t necessarily want to take a trip to Indonesia or Borneo, there are still a couple of options.  According to Gizmodo, you can watch a live broadcast from Micronesia, or go to the Solar Dynamics Laboratory website to see images of the eclipse as it happens.

But don’t feel left out America, another one will happen next year over the US mainland!  The next total solar eclipse is expected to happen on 21 August 2017 — the first one visible from the contiguous US since 1979, and it will be visible from all locations, which has not happened since 1918.

Remember, you should never look directly at the sun or solar eclipse — it can damage your eyes!  Eclipses can be viewed using a solar-filtered telescope, eclipse glasses or a pinhole projector.

You might also like: NASA Releases Ultra-HD Video of the Sun

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