Parts of the world, including Tanzania, witnessed a rare spectacle as a rare solar eclipse was seen yesterday in America, Europe and Africa International monitoring stations reported on Sunday that the eclipse was first visible in the southern United States in an eastward motion.
The moon shadows the sun as seen from Kigali (L) and Uganda yesterday
The best view of the total eclipse on land was visible from Gabon as it swept east across Africa, according to agencies. In Dar es Salaam, renowned local astronomer, Dr Noorali Jiwaji, led dozens of sky trend enthusiasts who had gathered at the Open University of Tanzania’s premises near Biafra Grounds at Kinondoni to catch a glimpse of the spectacle that had been eagerly awaited elsewhere in the city and across the country.
In an interview, Dr Jiwaji said the eclipse began hitting the skies in Dar es Salaam at 4:24pm as the solar surface began covered by almost 70 per cent, ‘’giving the impression of a moon eclipse.’’
Dr Jiwaji told the ‘Daily News’ that the rare spectacle could be seen up to 5:30pm before being covered by clouds that blanketed the city for most part of yesterday evening. ‘’Had it not been for the clouds, Dar es Salaam residents could have watched the spectacle until sunset,’ the astronomer told this reporter. The solar eclipse is a rare occurrence in that it is “hybrid” – switching between an annular and total eclipse.
According to Dr Jiwaji, with the dark eclipse expected to start at 4:24 pm in the afternoon, at 4:25 pm, ‘‘using eclipse glasses we could notice that a slight bottom right edge of the Sun had been chipped off by the dark edge of the invisible Moon’’.
In Dar es Salaam, the eclipse progressed to slide gradually over the Sun and after 10 minutes, a bigger arc was clearly missing from the edge of the Sun By 5 pm, the Sun took the shape of a crescent when viewed through eclipse glasses and on projections through the telescope as well as through the pinhole cardboard. Bu this time, the evening light was noticeably reduced. Unfortunately, thin clouds began gathering over the Sun but did not block it out.
It could still be seen as a clear crescent through eclipse glasses and on projections. As the Sun sank lower in the west, at 5:15 pm, thicker clouds gathered close to the Sun.
‘‘By 5:30 pm, we were able to see the maximum eclipse of 70 oper cent after which clouds blocked off the Sun’’, reported Dr Jiwaji. The end of the eclipse at sunset could not be seen because of thick clouds cover on the western horizon.
Elsewhere in Tanzania, watchers viewed the eclipse in schools and colleges, like in Morogoro where, according to reports, viewers, using shared eclipse glasses and projection techniques, followed the rare spectacle for the entire duration.
By ROSE ATHUMANI, Tanzania Daily News