Bright golden rings to be visible in annular eclipse on January 26

By Mediatrix P. Cristobal

MANILA, Jan. 9 (PNA) -– The first of the two solar eclipses of 2009 will be visible in the Philippines when the moon covers the sun’s disk forming a luminous bright ring around it, known as the annular eclipse.

“In Manila, it can be observed January 26 starting 4:55 PM (Philippine Standard Time or PST), maximum eclipse at 5:51 PM (PST),” Prisco Nilo, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration director said.

According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon's antumbral shadow crosses the Earth. During the maximum phase of an annular eclipse, the Sun appears as a blindingly bright ring, or (annulus, French word for ring), surrounding the Moon.

The first contact starts at 2:02 PM (PST) in the South Atlantic when the Moon's antumbral shadow meets Earth and forms a 363 kilometer-wide corridor.

The annularity, or the greatest eclipse, occurs 3:58 PM (PST) when the eclipse magnitude reaches 0.9282. Eclipse magnitude refers to the fraction of the Sun’s diameter silhouetted by the Moon.

The annularity will last 7 minutes 54 seconds with a path width of 280 kilometres; and the Sun at 73 degrees above the flat horizon formed by the open ocean, where most of this eclipse takes place.

The central track will continue heading northeast where it finally reaches the Cocos Islands, and onward to southern Sumatra and western Java, or the northwestern edge of Celebes. It actually ends before reaching Mindanao, but can still be seen throughout the country.

In Manila, it can be seen at an eclipse magnitude of 0.625 at 5:51 PM.

A partial eclipse will be seen from the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia (except Tasmania), southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

An eclipse of the Sun (or solar eclipse) can only occur at New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and Sun. If the Moon's shadow happens to fall upon Earth's surface at that time, some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon are visible to the earth.

The NASA said this is the 50th eclipse of Saros 131, a 70-eclipse family that began with 22 partial eclipses starting on 1 Aug 1125.

The first central eclipse was ‘total’ in the Northern Hemisphere in 1522. The series will produce 29 more annular eclipses, the last of which is on 18 Jun 2243. Saros 131 terminates on 2 Sep 2369 after a string of seven partial eclipses.

The second eclipse of 2009, meanwhile will happen on July, and will be a total solar eclipse. These outrank the annular kind for eclipse tourists. Weather permits, the July eclipse will be more spectacular and visibly long.

Experts at NASA caution eclipse observers, or eclipse chasers, against directly looking at the sun even if it is obscured by the moon.

The only time that the Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye is during a total eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun, it said.

It is never safe to look at a partial or annular eclipse, or the partial phases of a total solar eclipse, without the proper equipment and techniques.

Even when 99 percent of the Sun's surface (the photosphere) is obscured during the partial phases of a solar eclipse, the remaining crescent Sun is still intense enough to cause permanent retinal damage, especially when viewed through binoculars or other optical aids, scientists said. (PNA)