For those who missed solar eclipse, Super Blood Moon looms

EARLY risers enjoyed a celestial treat yesterday morning when the sun, earth and the moon lined up to deliver a partial solar eclipse.

The partial eclipse, which could be seen in Cape Town and Antarctica, darkened the skies from 6.45am and ended just before 9am.

Somerset West resident Scott Attfield snapped pictures of the partial eclipse from his house, which has a clear view across the ocean, making it perfect to enjoy sunrises.

Attfield used a compact camera and looked through welding glasses so that he could get useable pictures.

“The sky was cloudy this morning, so I was initially a little disappointed thinking we would miss it this year, but then around 7.40am the sun in eclipse became visible.

“This allowed the opportunity for a couple of pictures while the sun was not too bright,” Attfield said.

A partial solar eclipse happens when the moon comes between the sun and the earth, but they do not align in a perfectly straight line.

International Astronomical Union Working Group on Solar Eclipses Professor Jay Pasachoff said the eclipse covered 43 percent of the sun at L’Agulhas, south of Cape Town.

The percentage covered diminished further to the north, with the limit crossing mid-Angola to midZambia to mid-Mozambique to northern Madagascar.

I was initially a little disappointed, but around 7.40am the sun in eclipse became visible

Meanwhile, according to news website space.com, a total lunar eclipse is expected to take place on September 27.

It will take place while the moon is at perigee, the closest point to the earth and it is in this stage that the moon appears larger, making it a rare Super Blood Moon lunar eclipse. Such an event is not expected again until 2033.

The fact that an eclipse can occur at all is a fluke of celestial mechanics and time.

Since the moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago, it has been gradually moving away from Earth (by about 1.6 inches, or 4cm a year).

Right now the moon is at the perfect distance to appear in our sky, exactly the same size as the sun, and therefore block it out. michael.nkalane@inl.co.za

@siyaks