Skywatchers in some parts of the world will be lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse on March 8 and/or March 9, but even if you aren’t one of those can observe the phenomenon directly, experts note that you have plenty of other opportunities to view it.
As redOrbit reported last month, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, and will block out the Sun for at least one minute along a nearly 100-mile-wide path that passes over Sumatra, then heads to Borneo and continues on to several islands in Southeastern Asia.
The eclipse will last between one and a half to four minutes at each stop along the way, and a total of three hours will pass from the time that the event is visible at its western-most point to the time it completes its 8,800 mile long journey east and comes to an end.
While Pacific Islanders will be able to see all the way down to the roots of the corona, officials from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said in a statement, some places, including Hawaii and Alaska, should be able to see a partial eclipse one hour before and after the total eclipse.
But what if you’re not in the path of the solar eclipse?
Solar eclipses typically occur just once per year due to the fact that the sun and moon orbit in slightly different planes, meaning that the opportunity to witness such events are limited. Those in the path of the eclipse are all set (so long as they make sure to take the proper precautions to protect their eyes), but what about the rest of us?
Fortunately, as National Geographic points out, those of us stuck in other parts of the world will be able to see the eclipse online shortly after the moon’s first dark shadows pass over Indonesia at 6pm Eastern Tuesday evening (Wednesday in Indonesia) and for the duration of the three hour event, which will vanish shortly after it makes its way to the Hawaiian islands.
The Slooh robotic telescope service will be live-streaming the total solar eclipse starting at 6pm EST on Tuesday, as astronomer Paul Cox and a team from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) will be broadcasting from Indonesia. The Washington Post explained that Slooh’s coverage will include two minutes of totality beginning at 7:37pm Eastern time.
In addition, the IAC announced late last week that their researchers would also be part of a sky-live.tv broadcast covering the event, and NASA also plans a livestream of the total solar eclipse, which ABC News said will take place between 8:38pm and 8:42pm Eastern time Tuesday night. If, perchance, you miss it, the next solar eclipse will be visible from Africa this September, with the next one passing over Europe and North America in August 2017.
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Image credit: Thinkstock
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