{"id":32857,"date":"2017-02-27T10:14:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T10:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/ring-of-fire-eclipse-delights-africa-south\/"},"modified":"2017-02-27T10:14:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T10:14:14","slug":"ring-of-fire-eclipse-delights-africa-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/ring-of-fire-eclipse-delights-africa-south\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ring of fire’ eclipse delights Africa, South America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stargazers applauded as they were plunged into darkness Sunday when the moon passed in front of the sun in a spectacular “ring of fire” eclipse.<\/p>\n

Astronomers and enthusiasts in Argentina were among the first to see the so-called annular eclipse as it crossed South America shortly after 1200 GMT, on course for Africa.<\/p>\n

Staring up through special telescopes, protective glasses or homemade cardboard pinhole devices, they watched the Sun all but disappear briefly as the Moon crossed its path.<\/p>\n

{{BRINGHT RING}}<\/p>\n

The eclipse was most visible in a 100-kilometer (62-mile) band across Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n

Around 300 stargazers gathered in a remote spot near the southern city of Sarmiento, the point in Argentina where the eclipse left just a bright ring in the dark sky.<\/p>\n

Several onlookers blew notes on “erkes,” long traditional South American horns.<\/p>\n

“I have already seen six annular eclipses and each one was different,” said Josep Masalles Roman, an enthusiast who came all the way from Barcelona in Spain.<\/p>\n

15 MINUTES<\/p>\n

The spectacle passed on to Angola south of the town of Benguela, then Zambia and DR Congo just before the Sun set.<\/p>\n

In Angola’s capital Luanda, few seemed aware of the unusual event in the skies above, but those with forewarning got a glimpse of the eclipse for around 15 minutes from 1630 GMT.<\/p>\n

“It’s the first time that I’ve witnessed this phenomenon \u2014 I’m completely happy,” said stargazer Providencia Luzolo. “It’s just I didn’t manage to see it that well as it hurt my eyes.”<\/p>\n

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun line up.<\/p>\n

FIERY RING<\/p>\n

But even when perfectly aligned, the Moon is too far from Earth to completely block out the Sun, creating instead the impression of a fiery ring.<\/p>\n

Terry Moseley of the Irish Astronomical Association warned that viewers should not observe the eclipse with the naked eye.<\/p>\n

According to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA), such eclipses can be safely observed using a basic pinhole projector.<\/p>\n

Punch a tiny hole in a piece of paper with a sharp pencil, hold it into the Sun, and project the image onto a second sheet.<\/p>\n

TREE LEAVES<\/p>\n

The gaps between tree leaves make for a similar effect on the ground, says the ASSA website, calling this “the coolest and safest way to watch a solar eclipse”.<\/p>\n

“As about 90 percent of the Sun is covered, you’ll notice a distinct drop in temperature and brightness, and a change in the quality of the light which is hard to describe,” Moseley told AFP.<\/p>\n

Locals in the province of Chubut around Sarmiento said they noted changes in the height of the tide and animals acting unusually.<\/p>\n

Experts say that as the day darkens, birds and animals enter a night-time routine, thinking sunset is nigh.<\/p>\n

{{44 SECONDS}}<\/p>\n

At the height of the eclipse the Moon is right in the middle of the Sun, leaving a perfect ring of light around the edge.<\/p>\n

It takes about two hours for the Moon to move across the face of the Sun, but the “ring of fire” peak lasts a mere minute.<\/p>\n

Starting in the southeast Pacific Ocean at sunrise, the eclipse passed over southern Chile then Argentina before sweeping over the South Atlantic.<\/p>\n

At sea, the eclipse peak was to last 44 seconds and “only be visible to any ships that happen to be in the right place at the right time,” said Moseley.<\/p>\n

\"Sun<\/figure>\n

Source:AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stargazers applauded as they were plunged into darkness Sunday when the moon passed in front of the sun in a spectacular “ring of fire” eclipse. Astronomers and enthusiasts in Argentina were among the first to see the so-called annular eclipse as it crossed South America shortly after 1200 GMT, on course for Africa. Staring up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-32857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32857"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=32857"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=32857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}