Solar eclipse for Spring Day
Only a partial eclipse will be visible this morning for Durban and the North Coast.
The annular solar eclipse today will be visible as a partial eclipse to observers on the North Coast of KZN.
The eclipse which begins in the mid-Atlantic, and whose line of totality stretches over central African countries and Madagascar, is unfortunately too far north to be visible in its entirety for local viewers.
Durbanites are expected to gather in great numbers to see the unusual spectacle at the Durban Botanic Gardens.
“The last time a partial annular eclipse occurred in Durban was in January 2009.
“We did not expect a large crowd on a work day Monday morning, but hundreds of people turned up,” said Logan Govender, Media Director of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa.
The eclipse is expected to begin at 9.48am local time and will reach its maximum at 11.17am after which the moon will slowly move away and the eclipse will end just after noon at 12.47pm.
What do you need to see it?
The Society has special viewers, solar telescopes and filters to enable people to watch the eclipse without damage to their eyes. Please note: it is extremely dangerous to look at the sun without protective eye-ware.
One should never look at the sun as it can lead to severe damage to the eye, even blindness,” warned Govender.
Previously people turned up with fogged X-ray plates, beer bottles, welders’ masks and all sorts of contraptions to view the sun.
It is best to use the filters provided by the Society.
Click here for steps to make your own.
Solar eclipses only occur during a new Moon, when the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun and the three celestial bodies form a straight line: Earth – Moon – Sun.
There are three kinds of solar eclipses: total, partial, annular.
This one from our perspective will be a partial eclipse.
A partial solar eclipse can be observed when the Earth, Moon and Sun do not align in a perfectly straight line, and the Moon only partially covers the disc of the Sun.
You can watch the live stream of the eclipse here.
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