This year’s only total solar eclipse will take place this week, but you may have some way to go to enjoy it — with the full event only visible from Antarctica, NASA said.
For viewers living near Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf, the maximum extent of the eclipse will occur on Saturday, December 4.
While this may go largely missed, viewers elsewhere in the southern hemisphere — including parts of Australia, Chile and New Zealand — will see a partial eclipse.
While the April 8th 2024 total solar eclipse is not expected, this event will be seen across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
In Europe, however, it is not likely that a total eclipse of the sun will occur in this century.
This year’s only total solar eclipse will take place this week, but you might have some way to go to enjoy it — with the full event only visible from Antarctica, NASA said.
The eclipse, which will take place Saturday December 4th at 07:33 GMT is for those who live near Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf.
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The moon’s passage between Earth and Sun causes a solar eclipse. It casts shadows on Earth. You can choose from several types depending on the amount of Sun that is obscured for a particular location.
For a total solar eclipse — when the sun is temporarily fully obscured by the moon for those in the very centre of the lunar shadow — all three of the celestial bodies must be in a direct line.
Viewers can see that the sky turns very dark just like dawn and dusk. However, it might also appear as if the sun’s corona (or outer atmosphere) is visible around the moon.
The Sun’s bright face can often cover the corona.
An annual solar eclipse is a similar phenomenon. The moon appears smaller than the sun and fails to block the sunlight completely, leaving an ‘annular circle’ around the sun at times of maximum eclipse.
On October 14, 2023, the next annular eclipse will cross North America.
NASA said that while the total solar eclipse of the weekend will probably go unnoticed, there will be some spectacular views in the southern hemisphere.
‘In some places, while viewers won’t get to see the total solar eclipse, they’ll instead experience a partial solar eclipse,’ they said in a blog post.
It happens when Earth, Moon, Sun do not line up properly. It will appear that the Sun has only a part of its visible surface covered in dark shadows.
“Viewers from parts of Saint Helena and Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa, South Georgia, South Georgia, Sandwich Islands and Crozet Islands and Falkland Islands will be able to see the partial solar eclipse that occurs on December 4th.”
Although Saturday’s partial eclipse will be missed by Antarctica, some viewers in other parts of the hemisphere (including New Zealand and Chile) may see it.
NASA warned that — for many of these locations — the partial eclipse will occur around the time of either sunrise or sunset.
For viewers to see the eclipse in person, they will need to have clear views of the horizon.
NASA will livestream the eclipse from Antarctica’s Union Glacier if weather permits.
The stream — provided by the JM Pasachoff Antarctic Expedition — will start at 1:30 am EST (6:30 am GMT) on December 4 and run until 3:37 am EST (8:37 am GMT).
NASA has stated that totality will commence at 2:44 EST (7:44 GMT)
WHEN WILL SOLAR ECLIPSES NEXT TAKE PLACE
Next US Solar Eclipse will be on April 8th 2024. The eclipse will travel from Texas to Maine. Montreal, Canada, can see the entire event.
After that, the next total solar eclipse will occur on August 12, 2026. It will be visible from Greenland and Iceland as well as Spain, Spain, Northeastern Portugal, and Greenland.
The graphic below shows the global solar eclipses between 2018-2040. On April 8, 2024, the next US solar eclipse passes from Texas to Maine. Montreal, Canada, will be able to witness the completeity.
On September 2nd, 2035, a large number of people in China, northern Japan and Korea will witness a total solar eclipse.
The greatest number of solar eclipses in Australia will occur between 2023-2038. There will be five total solar eclipses visible on the continent from April 20th-2023 through December 26th 2038.