The horizon here turned unusually gloomy while the typically warm morning winds eased for over an hour early Wednesday morning as the city experienced a partial solar eclipse.
Renato de Leon, specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) astronomy division, said the partial solar eclipse started at around 7:51 a.m. and was mainly seen in this city.
He said there were no other areas in the country that experienced the phenomenon, which was seen fully in Indonesia.
De Leon said the partial eclipse was seen at about 60 percent at around 8:30 a.m. and peaked at 79.85 percent at around 8:55 a.m. It is expected to end at 10:20 a.m.
PAGASA has set up a special monitoring station using two refractor telescopes near the city airport in Barangay Tambler here to properly observe the astronomical phenomenon.
“There’s still some light but the heat we felt from the sun has significantly eased (at its peak),” he told reporters.
De Leon said a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and with it fully or partially blocking the Sun.
He said an eclipse is a normal occurrence and part of the regular cycle of Earth, Sun and the Moon.
“As the Earth rotate, the Sun and the Moon continually revolve around it so they would eventually align with each other at some point,” he explained.
Thousands of residents here took to some open public areas to observe the partial solar eclipse.
As advised by PAGASA, some used telescopes, welder’s glasses and exposed film to observe the phenomenon.
The city and parts of South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces experienced a total solar eclipse on March 18, 1988 that lasted for more than three minutes. (PNA)
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