It’s not every day that we get a solar eclipse…
But it is happening this December 26, 2019, with Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines seeing the effect.
The Solar Eclipse this time will be an ‘Annular’ eclipse which means that ‘a ring of fire’ is seen when the moon passes directly in front of the sun. Below is an example of such.
An annular eclipse is a rare event that occurs every 20 years, the last time it happened was in August 1998.
This December 26, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore will experience a solar eclipse. However, it is Singapore that will take the cake as 94% of the island state will see the eclipse!
According to the National Planetarium, the eclipse will start from 10:26 AM until 3:30 PM. While the whole nation will experience It, Tanjung Piai and Serian will take the cake as they’ll experience the annular eclipse. It’s good to note that Tanjung Piai is the most southernmost tip of South East Asia.
If you want to see the best of the Solar Eclipse, you might want to plan your trip as Tanjung Piai will expect a huge, huge crowd! A crowd of 30,000 to as high as two million will be there on the day. The first 10,000 will get free solar eclipse glasses.
Fun activities will be hold there, which will host the Solar Fest 2019. Talks from astronomers across the region will be there. People will also get to learn about astrophysics, astrophotography and participate in solar exhibitions.
The National Planetarium will also be hosting a live stream in Serian for those who can’t make it.
If you plan to see the eclipse, do take protection with special glasses as looking at it directly will blind you! And make sure he glasses you use are credible.