The BBC reports on the annular eclipse:
A solar eclipse that reduced the sun to a blazing ring surrounding a black disk has entered the record books as the longest annular eclipse for 1000 years.
The phenomenon which lasted eleven minutes and eight seconds, set a record that will not be beaten for another millennium.
An annular eclipse occurs when the moon only blocks the sun's middle therefore creating a ring, and could be seen across parts of Central Africa, the Maldives, southern India, northern Sri Lanka, parts of Burma and China.
Too bad that like Hulu, our own country wasn't allowed access to this wondrous celestial spectacle. As consolation, you can click on the link above for the beautiful, awe-inspiring - if slightly eerie - video.
In the meantime, enjoy these fantastic photographs culled from the AP, via MSN :
thats pretty wicked. i remember checking out the moon a few hours ago while i was shooting and well..um..*dozes off*....
ReplyDeletegaleng.. :)
ReplyDeleteganda ha!
ReplyDeleteselene eclipses helios. literally.
ReplyDeleteyou still abroad?
ReplyDelete@ Herbs : Speaking of wicked, I wonder how occultists observed this cosmic phenomenon?
ReplyDelete@ Chingoy & Mike : Yeah, it's breathtaking, di ba?
@ Ternie : Selene looks serene.
@ engel : Oh no, I've been back for a good while now.
ganda. tagal ko nang di nakakita ng eclipse. naalala ko pa yung pinatugtog yung "total eclipse of the heart".
ReplyDeleteseriously, eclipse never fails to amaze me. but somehow, there is this unexplainable fear to look at it...
ReplyDelete@ Ming : Lunar eclipse pa lang ang nakita ko nang personal. I'd like to watch a full solar eclipse someday.
ReplyDelete@ ewik : Cosmic phenomena can often be beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. We modern men have rational, scientific explanations for things such as eclipses and comets and yet are still awed and yes, a little spooked by them. I can only imagine the terror of the ancients - who didn't yet have the knowledge we have - when they first beheld these strange signs in the skies.
how lovely. i don't know what it is about eclipses but i always do something really stupid whenever we have them. doubly so if it's a lunar eclipse.
ReplyDelete@ Nyl : You remember my last post about the moon, yes? And how the word "lunatic" is derived from the Latin word "luna" meaning "moon"?
ReplyDeleteI guess when the moon does something extraordinary - like blocking out the sun - we double our madness as well :P