It is on June 21, that the UAE will witness a partial solar eclipse for around three hours, an expert said.
Mohammed Shawkat Awda, representative of the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomical Centre, said the partial solar eclipse will be seen in all Arab countries, except the Kingdom of Morocco and most areas in Mauritania. And in parts of Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman, an annular eclipse will be spotted.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is located between the earth and the sun, and its apparent diametre, is slightly smaller than the apparent diametre of the sun, Shawkat explained.
The areas that will witness an annular eclipse are located within a narrow strip starting from southern Sudan with a width of 65km, he added.
The eclipse will travel east and continue decreasing in view while passing over Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman, with its width in the east of Oman becoming only 33km. Some areas of these countries will witness an annular eclipse while their remaining areas, as well as other Arab countries including the UAE, will witness a partial eclipse, he further added.
Shawkat said the centre will conduct a live broadcast of the eclipse in Abu Dhabi from 8am to 11am, UAE time, and can be followed on the centre’s social media channels.
During the eclipse, people must refrain from looking directly into the sun without using special sunglasses with special filters.
How to watch online:
The Dubai Astronomy Group will also telecast live the viewing of the solar eclipse from Dubai. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomical Center will be broadcasting the event live.
Slooh webcast
Astronomy broadcasting service Slooh will have a virtual star party starting at 1amET. You can watch it live here on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh. While the general public can also stream the show on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Solar eclipse June 2020
Skywatchers along a narrow band from west Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and southern China will witness on Sunday the most dramatic “ring of fire” solar eclipse to shadow the Earth in years.
Annular eclipses occur when the Moon – passing between Earth and the Sun – is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible. They occur every year or two, and can only been seen from a narrow pathway across the planet. Remarkably, the eclipse on Sunday arrives on the northern hemisphere’s longest day of the year – the summer solstice – when Earth’s north pole is tilted most directly towards the Sun.
This will be marked by an 86.31% coverage of the disc of the sun by the moon that will be visible in the UAE sky.
Solar eclipse time
According to TimeandDate, the annular solar eclipse of June 21 will be visible from parts of Africa including Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, South of Pakistan, and Northern India, as well as China. It will begin at 8:14:47 (UAE local time) when the moon will begin moving in front of the sun. The eclipse will be over at 11:12:04.
The “ring of fire” will first be seen in northeastern Republic of Congo at 5:56 local time (04:56 GMT) just a few minutes after sunrise. This is the point of maximum duration, with the blackout lasting 1 minute and 22 seconds.
Arcing eastward across Asia and Africa, it will reach “maximum eclipse” – with a perfect solar halo around the Moon – over Uttarakhand, India near the Sino-Indian border at 6:40 GMT. More spectacular, but less long-lived: the exact alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun will be visible for only 38 seconds.
Do’s and Don’t
Do’s during a solar eclipse
* View the sun only through special filter glasses made specifically for safe solar viewing
* While using the solar eclipse glasses, first position yourself towards the east direction, put the glasses on your eyes then turn towards the sun to observe the eclipse
* Use only metallic body telescopes and eye pieces to observe the eclipse. don’t use plastic ones
Don’ts during the solar eclipse
* Don’t ever look at the sun without proper eye protection
* Don’t view the sun through sunglasses of any type (single or multiple pairs)
* Don’t fit any filter to a telescope without first checking it thoroughly for damage
* Don’t look at the sun with filters made from photographic film, or any combination of photographic filters, crossed polarisers
* Don’t look at the sun with gelatin filters, cds, cd-roms, or smoked glass
*Â If you are not certain that a filter is approved and safe, or you have any other doubts, don’t use it.
