VietNamNet Bridge – On March 9,  rare astronomical phenomenon, a total eclipse, will occur, but in Vietnam people will only see a partial eclipse.

Astronomers said the region where people can observe the total eclipse is in a narrow range of 94 km to 155 km starting from the Indian Ocean (west Sumatra) at sunrise, then going through some parts of Indonesia's territory, and beyond the Pacific before ending in the northern Pacific (north of the island of Hawaii).

A large area of Asia - Pacific such as Southeast Asia and Australia will only see the partial eclipse.

"This time Indonesia is the best place to observe the eclipse,"said Dang Tuan Duy, from the HCM City Amateur Astronomers’ Club (HAAC).

All provinces in Vietnam will only observe the partial eclipse with a maximum coverage of 50%. According to the HAAC, the best places to see the partial eclipse in Vietnam are the southern provinces.

Moving northwards, the maximum coverage decreases, specifically, the largest coverage is in Ca Mau, with 58%, then Ho Chi Minh City with 52%, Da Nang 36%, and only 22% Hanoi.

"The time of maximum eclipse is at 7am, when the sun rises not yet high enough if the weather conditions are favorable," Duy said.

Comparison between total eclipse (left) and the annular eclipse (right). Graphics: HAAC.

Total eclipse is very rare. In Vietnam, this phenomenon occurred the last time on October 24, 1995.

The term eclipse is most often used to describe either a solar eclipse, when the Moon's shadow crosses the Earth's surface, or a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow.

However, it can also refer to such events beyond the Earth–Moon system: for example, a planet moving into the shadow cast by one of its moons, a moon passing into the shadow cast by its host planet, or a moon passing into the shadow of another moon.

A binary star system can also produce eclipses if the plane of the orbit of its constituent stars intersects the observer's position.

Nam Hai