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Solar eclipse seen January 15

January 11, 2010, 1:24pm

An annular solar eclipse will occur on Friday, January 15, and will be the longest solar eclipse in duration since 1992, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Sunday.

“This eclipse will be visible from a track that goes across central Africa, the Indian Ocean, and eastern Asia.

The maximum eclipse occurs in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but the annular phase will still be seen from either Africa or Asia,” PAGASA said in its astronomical diary for January prepared by PAGASA Administrator Dr. Prisco Nilo.

In the Philippines, the event will be observed as a partial solar eclipse.

In Metro Manila, the eclipse will begin at 3:49 p.m. and end at 5:51 p.m. with the maximum eclipse occurring at 4:53 p.m. In Cebu, it will begin at 3:59 p.m., and end at 5:39 p.m. with the maximum eclipse at 4:52 p.m. In Davao, it will begin at 4:09 p.m., and end at 5:28 p.m. with the maximum eclipse at 4:50 p.m.

Wikipedia said “an annular eclipse occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun.”

“Hence, the sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the moon,” the online encyclopedia said.

The first eclipse of 2010 – a partial lunar eclipse in the Philippines – occurred last January 1.

Meanwhile, PAGASA cautioned spectators against viewing the solar eclipse directly without proper eye safety, even if it is only a partial eclipse.

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