Partial solar eclipse visible in parts of PH on June 21 – Pagasa

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – An annular solar eclipse will be visible from a track that goes across most of Africa, Southeast Europe, Asia and Micronesia on Sunday, June 21, 2020.

An annular eclipse happens when the moon is farthest from Earth, said an advisory that was posted on the Dost_Pagasa Facebook page.

“Because the moon is farther away from Earth, it seems smaller and does not block the entire view of the sun, thus creating a “ring of fire” effect,” it said.

However, what will be observed in the Philippines is a partial solar eclipse.

Pagasa said that areas in the northernmost parts of Luzon are expected to have a good view of the phenomenon with an eclipse obscuration of up to 91 percent.

Eclipse obstruction in the Visayas and Mindanao areas will range from 52-66 percent and 43-58 percent, respectively.

An eclipse obscuration is the fraction of the sun’s surface area occulted or covered by the moon, Pagasa said.

Pagasa said that the eclipse may be viewed using a binocular or telescope projection.  An option is with the use of a pinhole projection.

“If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a welder’s filter, you can always make your own pinhole projector, which allows you to view a projected image of the sun,” the advisory said.

Pinhole projectors can be made by punching a small clean pinhole into a piece of cardboard and letting the sunlight fall through that hole onto the second piece of cardboard, which serves as a screen, held behind it.

“An inverted image of the sun is formed. To make the image larger, move the screen farther from the pinhole. To make the image brighter, move the screen closer to the pinhole.”