SINGAPORE: Stargazers will be in for a treat later this month as a rare hybrid solar eclipse will be visible from Singapore in the late morning and early afternoon on Apr 20.
“In this rare type of solar eclipse, some places will observe a total solar eclipse while some will observe an annular solar eclipse,” Singapore’s Science Centre Observatory said on Thursday (Apr 6).
“This is due to the moon’s orbit and Earth’s curvature during the eclipse.”
While people in some parts of the world, including the town of Exmouth in Western Australia, will be able to see a total eclipse, others in places like Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, which are out of the complete shadow of the moon, will witness a partial eclipse.
“In Singapore, the moon will only cover an average of 15 per cent of the Sun’s disk at the peak of the eclipse,” the observatory said.
The eclipse will begin at 10.54am, reach its peak at 11.55am and end at 12.58pm.
“The solar eclipse can be spotted from most places in Singapore, as it is almost directly above our heads,” added the observatory.
Science Centre Singapore will be hosting a viewing session for the eclipse at its Ecogarden from 11am to 1pm with telescopes set up to provide safe and magnified views of the phenomenon. Telescope viewing is complimentary with a Science Centre admission ticket.
The eclipse will also be livestreamed on Science Centre Singapore’s YouTube channel.