Solar eclipse: Check here the peak times throughout Mozambique & protect your eyes

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Solar eclipse: Check here the peak times throughout Mozambique & protect your eyes

3:29 CAT | 31 Aug 2016

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Mozambicans will be able to witness a partial solar eclipse on Thursday 1 September when the moon partially obscures the sun from shortly after 9.00 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m..

However, as explains the Mozambican astronomer Hélder Geraldes quoted by @Verdade. the day will not be completely dark as the moon will not completely cover the sun, even on Ibo island in the far north of the country.

Geraldes warns people never to look directly at the sun without a special filter, as this may cause blindness.

“The centre of the eclipse, where the sun will look exactly like a ring for 1 or 2 minutes passes over the island of Ibo” in northern Mozambique, the astronomer explains, adding that the sun will also be visible in the form of a ring in the city Pemba at about 11h58m tomorrow.

Geraldes says “the day will not be dark because the sun will not be completely covered, not even on the island of Ibo. The moon’s apparent diameter will be slightly smaller than the sun’s.”

As to how to witness the partial eclipse safely, the astronomer says: “Do not watch the eclipse with just sunglasses, even using two or more pairs.”

“Use a piece of cardboard 40cm square with a hole in the middle and let the sun pass through the hole. In the shadow of the card you will see the sun. The larger the diameter of the hole, the brighter the sun, but also the more blurred. If you have a magnifying glass, you can place the magnifying glass over the hole and then the hole may be much wider and you can see the sun much brighter, bigger and sharper on paper. “

This projection method is also advised as the safest by the National Institute of Meteorology, along with using special glasses (which @Verdade could not find for sale in Mozambique) for 20 seconds with breaks of at least 30 seconds, or a piece of smoked glass with a degree of opacity of 14.

Solar eclipses have been observed previously in Mozambiqe. A total eclipse was observed in Quelimane on 21 June 2001 and another in Xai-Xai on 4 December 2002. In 2001 the government declared a day’s holiday and distributed special glasses.

According to Geraldes, “the next opportunity to see a solar eclipse in Mozambique will be on 21 June 2020. It will be visible throughout the whole of Mozambique except Maputo”.

Here are the start, end and peak times of the solar eclipse in Mozambique: