No Solar Eclipse Seen In Nigeria, Says Astronomy Society
The Astronomy Society of Nigeria (ASN), has disputed assertions that Monday’s Solar Eclipse in certain parts of America was also witnessed in Nigeria.
ASN President, Prof. Augustine Ubachukwu, clarified to reporters that those assertions were inaccurate.
“Solar eclipse takes place during the day, unlike the lunar eclipse that occurs at night, the path of the eclipse this year did not pass through the Southern hemisphere.
“By the time the movement was passing through Mexico, US through Canada, we were already at night time here, so it wouldn’t have been observed in Nigeria.
“Solar eclipse has to happen during the new moon, during the day,’’ he said.
He added that other parts of the world had always witnessed eclipses, unlike the U.S that would experience the next one in August 2044.
“In the Southern hemisphere, we may be getting it before then. It is just a question of the alignment of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon,” he said.
Ubachukwu also mentioned that having a preview of the total solar eclipse event was an exciting experience, revealing a part of the sun typically concealed from human observation.
Also Read: North America Experiences Total Solar Eclipse
“The temperature of the outermost part of the sun is so hot, but during this type of eclipse, the moon covers it so that one can peep into the sun.
“It helps Astronomers peep into the sun and some energetic particles thrown out from the sun, astronomers get to look into some of these particles and study them,” he said.
He remarked that the eclipse, potentially lasting around four minutes, would encompass a total phenomenon duration of two hours as the moon gradually covered the sun.
The president also highlighted how the precise laws of physics and their predictive capability allow for the projection of events such as eclipses and other natural phenomena.
The trajectory of the eclipse was previously studied by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
According to NASA’s findings, the eclipse traversed from Mexico, entered the United States in Texas, passed through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
The report indicates that the eclipse concluded its path over continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
NAN
