CEBUANOS can witness both a solar eclipse and a lunar penumbral eclipse on March 9 and March 23, respectively.
Romeo Aguirre, weather specialist of the state weather bureau Pagasa, said the solar eclipse will be 60 to 70 percent visible in Cebu. “You can see it wherever you are in Cebu,” Aguirre told Cebu Daily News yesterday.
It is visible from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on March 9. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and sun.
The solar eclipse will be 80 percent visible in Mindanao and 100 percent visible in Malaysia.
Malaysia is located near the earth’s equator while Philippines is located above equator. The last solar eclipse occurred on March 20, 2015 but it was only visible in Dubai.
Aguirre said the lunar penumbral eclipse will be visible in Cebu from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on March 23.
He said a lunar penumbral eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the faint penumbral portion of the earth’s shadow.
Aguirre said the penumbra is the partial shaded outer region of a shadow that an object casts. The last lunar penumbral eclipse occurred on September 28, 2015.
The next penumbral eclipse will be on September 17, 2016.