Astronomy refers to the study of celestial bodies, for instance, moons, stars, planets, galaxies, comets, and asteroids. A ring of sunlight was reported to blaze over regions of Africa on Thursday first September 2016 by the New York Times. The moon was to slide in the middle of sun and earth. This solar sight was referred to as annular eclipse and usually called the ring of fire. The full solar eclipse, which is an annular eclipse, was reported to take place when the moon does not totally obliterate the sun. This was interesting as viewers were in a position to observe red slivers of sunshine beaming about the moon’s shadowed silhouette. Viewers were reported to observe unusual ring in the sky if they could use protective eyewear. They were reported to see circular shadows in a spectacular manner as outlined by the scholars of solar astrophysicist. The news of the occurrence was important as solar eclipse occurs rarely. The basis as to why each eclipse is not a full eclipse has something to do with the moon’s oval-shaped orbit.
The news continued to state that, in several parts of its progression, eclipse is nearer to the earth while sometimes is farther away. The annular eclipse takes place one time after eighteen months. The event was reported to be visible from some countries in Africa like Tanzania, the Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Gabon, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Fleur para. 1-11). The peak was reported to start at about nine to ten in the morning. This was by local time regarding the location of the country, while the ring was to last for around three minutes. The nearby states which were at the exterior of one hundred miles wide were to observe partial eclipses. It was emphasized that although ninety percent of the sun was to be blocked out, anybody whose location allowed him/her to watch the incident was supposed to have particular solar eclipse glasses for his/her eyes not to be harmed. I found the article interesting as a onetime and few minutes happening taking place was thrilling. I have all along been enjoying the event by reading about it from literature. However, on that fateful day I was in a position of observing the episode live and clear. An eclipse view turned out to be fun with some of my friends joking that life on earth was ending. Since the darkness lasted for just a few minutes, people did not have enough time to make fun out of it.
The article outlined that the rest of the world would be able to observe the eclipse through a live stream, which would be provided by observatory community, an interconnected system of telescopes directed to the sky (Fleur para. 8-11). The broadcast was to commence at about quarter to three in the morning, Eastern Time. An astronomer, based in Massachusetts, would be the chief presenter on the celestial show (Fleur para. 9-11). He was accompanied by his fellows who had journeyed to Reunion, a distant island in the Indian Ocean, which is east of Madagascar. When positioned on that edge, they could see the eclipse and take snaps of its peak. The article continued to outline that, annular eclipses have no much appealing science to the researchers compared to full eclipses; therefore, scientists aim to employ the episode as a practice-run for the full eclipses, which are said to cross the US by August next year. In conclusion, eclipses are interesting for people to watch and significant to scientists as they assist them in making their research.
Work Cited
Fleur, Nicholas. “A ‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse Starts Thursday.” The New York Times 31 August 2016: D2. Web.