Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post | Sun, 01/25/2009 1:49 PM
Indonesians will have the rare opportunity to view a solar eclipse Monday afternoon, as the archipelago is the only land mass on earth from which the annual cosmic occurrence will be visible.
In a solar eclipse, the moon and the sun appear to merge and a ring, or annulus, of bright sunlight beams from behind the moon. This is caused when the moon passes directly in front of the sun, blocking the majority of light but leaving the exterior glow.
Those with sunlight filters will be able to stare at the sky Monday afternoon, although only several parts of the archipelago will enjoy the annulus in its most identifiable form.
Its path will pass through the southern part of Sumatra including Tanjung Karang in Lampung and Tanjung Pandan in Belitung, the western part of Java including Cilegon, Serang and Anyer and the central part of Kalimantan including Puruk Cahu and Samarinda in the east.
”Jakarta will also be able to observe the eclipse, though not likely in its fullest form,” B. Adi Nugroho, founder of the astronomy hobbyist community IndoSkyGazer said.
At 03:24 p.m., Jakartans will be able to observe the moon aligning with the middle of the sun, then at 04:45 p.m. about 92 percent of the sun’s rays will be covered by the moon’s mass. The resulting ring surrounding the moon will last for around six minutes.
By 5:50 p.m. the eclipse will be complete.
It is extremely harmful to view a solar eclipse directly with unprotected eyes or common sunglasses.
The Science Exhibition Center (PP Iptek) at the Indonesian Miniature Park TMII in East Jakarta have prepared six telescopes especially designed for solar eclipse observation, promotion manager Putu Lia Sur-yaningsih said.
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Indonesians among the few to witness solar eclipse
The Jakarta Post, Zakki Hakim, The Associated Press, Anyer, Banten | Mon, 01/26/2009 7:00 PM
Indonesians were among the few worldwide to witness an eclipse of the sun Monday, but even there the view was hampered in most places by cloudy skies.
Dozens gathered in the western coastal town of Anyer as the moon passed across the sun's path at 4:40 p.m., covering 92 percent of the sun's diameter and leaving a white, flaming ring of fire that lasted about four minutes.
"I'm old, but I still think this is magical," said Roanna Makmur, 66, who drove several hours with eight friends to witness the sight, known as an annular eclipse, because it does not completely black out the sun.
"I can't help but feel the greatness of God," she said, as other onlookers cheered. "Anyone who passed up this opportunity, really missed out."
Annular eclipses, which are considered far less important to astronomers than total eclipses of the sun, occur about 66 times a century and can only be viewed by people in the narrow band along its path.
A relatively small number of people were in the best places to view Monday's eclipse, said Jay Pasachoff, professor of astronomy at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Eclipses.
Aside from several regions in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, only villagers on a tiny South Pacific island group known as the Cocos, administered by Australia, were to have been able to see the ring-shaped corona, he wrote in a statement.
A partial eclipse - with coverage ranging from 1 percent to 84 percent of the sun's diameter - was to be visible in the southern third of Africa, in southeastern India, and southeast Asia, as well as the western part of Australia.
The last total eclipse of the sun was Aug. 1, 2008, and was visible in Canada, across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China.
The next total eclipse will be July 22, 2009, and will be visible in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and some Japanese islands.
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