By Ronmar M. Gerilla and Jemima Ermine C. Cariño

The solar eclipse that transpired on January 15, 2010 was recorded as the longest solar eclipse in terms of duration since 1992 and the first eclipse seen in this millennium. Philippine Atmospheric, Geographical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) identified four resident areas in the Philippines that have seen the said eclipse such as the Cagayan Island which had the highest eclipse magnitude of 50.6 percent, Laoag city was at 48.8 percent, Metro Manila viewed it at 39.1 percent and General Santos city got the lowest percentage of eclipse magnitude at 12.6 percent.

According to the PAGASA, the said eclipse started at 2 p.m. local time when the moon cast a shadow on the South Atlantic. The shadow first moved northeast from Atlantic Ocean and to Celebes Sea. In its final minutes, the shadow cut across central Borneo and clipped the northwestern edge of Celebes and stopped a little part in Mindanao. In Metro Manila, the eclipse began at 3:49 pm with a maximum eclipse starting at 4:53 pm until 5:51 pm. Observers from the latter were able to see only the 62 percent of the sun blocked by the moon.  Those in Davao were a lot fortunate as the partial solar eclipse occurred at 4:47 p.m. wherein they saw the moon covering 77 percent of the sun’s disk.

The Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) members advised sky watchers to bring any optical device such as telescopes and binoculars with special filters in watching the partial covering of the moon around half of the sun’s circumference and so the sun appeared as a bright ring around the moon central Borneo and clipped the northwestern edge of Celebes and central Borneo and clipped the northwestern edge of Celebes and eclipse happens when the moon appears as a big spot on the sun but does

not cover the whole sun unlike in the case of a total eclipse.It occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. Hence, the sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.

The next annular eclipse will happen on May 2012.

References: www.google.com

Alcuin Papa of Phil. Daily Inquirer