The Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Seidu Mohammed has disclosed that a partial solar eclipse will occur in different parts of the country on Sunday, November 3rd. He made this known to reporters, explaining what it is, what precautions should be taken and what the eclipse is not.
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured. This occurs either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer as seen from the earth.
According to US Williams College, “During a partial eclipse, the remaining surface of the Sun is too bright to look at safely without a filter or a pinhole camera. Natural pinholes are made by the spaces between the leaves in a tree, so sometimes just looking at the ground under a tree will reveal crescent images on the ground.”
“A total solar eclipse will sweep across Africa about two hours later on Sunday, when it will be afternoon, six hours later, in West Africa. After starting in the Atlantic, the shadow of the moon will reach Gabon.”
“The eclipse will then continue across Africa through the Congos until it passes through northern Uganda, and northern Kenya, ending in southern Ethiopia and Somalia. The path of totality, when the bright everyday surface of the sun is entirely covered by the moon, will cross the middle of Gabon. Totality, weather permitting, in the middle of Gabon will be about 1 minute long, compared with only about 10 seconds long in northern Kenya.”
“A Google map showing the eclipse path (available at the easy-to-remember website of http://www.eclipses.info is at http://tinyurl.com/eclipse13map and you can zoom into it and click at any location to see your local circumstances.”
DG Seidu Mohammed said, the partial eclipse would not affect the airspace and that Nigerians should not think that the world would come to an end because of the eclipse. Nigerians should wear sunglasses to view the occurrence, to protect their eyes from damage that might arise. He said that partial eclipses would also occur in April 2014, March 2015 and September 2016.
