Partial Eclipse of the Sun

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Partial Eclipse of the Sun - April 19 2004

Case Rijsdijk

In the southern African skies this month, look out for a partial eclipse of the Sun on April 19. Because the cone of the Moon's shadow will miss the Earth, the Sun's light won't be totally blocked anywhere, and there will be no total eclipse. It will be what is known as an annular eclipse. If you were standing in a line exactly Sun- Moon-Earth and looked towards the Sun (or Moon!) you would see the Moon silhouetted against the Sun and you would see a ring of sunlight around it - hence the name "annular"!

In southern Africa the best place to view the partial eclipse is in Cape Town which will be 51% just after 4pm. See the table below for start, maximum and end times for the eclipse from Cape Town to Harare. No last contact time is listed for Durban as the sun will have set before the end of the eclipse. Remember to protect your eyes. Do not look directly at the Sun, rather use safe solar viewers.

Event	Cape Town	Johannesburg	Durban	Harare
First contact	14:51:41	15:26:03	15:19:20	15:56:56
Maximum eclipse	16:10:48	16:34:32	16:30:03	16:49:53
Last contact	17:22:14	17:35:47	-------	17:28:13
Max. eclipse	51%	41.8%	47.9%	25.2%