The Ring Solar Eclipse Begins This Afternoon

JAKARTA - The ring solar eclipse will accompany the New Year in Indonesia. Today, Thursday, December 26th, a solar eclipse will occur. A solar eclipse is an event that the sun's light is blocked by the moon so that not all of it reaches Earth.

A ring solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and earth are in alignment. As a result, the sun will appear like a ring, that is, dark at the center and bright at the edges.

The ring solar eclipse in each region, especially in Indonesia, which occurs today, is about 3 hours long. The event was divided into several contacts, from the first to the fourth contact.

Solar Eclipse The most clearly visible ring or peak of the eclipse is between the second and third contact.

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati explained that the peak times for an eclipse in each region are different.

"In Indonesia, the earliest peak time for the eclipse is in Sabang, Aceh, at 11.49 WIB and the last is Merauke, Papua at 15.51 WIT," said Dwikorita in a written statement received by VOI, Thursday, December 26.

Then, the peak time for the eclipse in Medan, Padang and Pekanbaru is at 12.00-12.15 WIB. The peak of the eclipse in Jambi, Bengkulu, and Tanjung Pinang at 12.15-12.30 WIB.

The peak time for the eclipse in Pangkal Pinang, Bandar Lampung, Pontianak, Serang, Jakarta and Bandung is at 12.30-12.45 WIB. The peak time for the eclipse in Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Palangkaraya is at 12.45-13.00 WIB.

The peak time for the eclipse in Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Tanjungselor, Denpasar and Mataram is at 13.00-13.15 WIB. The peak time for the eclipse in Makassar, Palu, Gorontalo, Manado, Mamuju, Kendari, and Kupang is at 13.15-13.30 WIB.

The peak time for the eclipse in Ambon, North Maluku and Manokwari is at 13.45-14.00 WIB. Meanwhile, the peak time for the eclipse in Jayapura is at 14.00-14.45 WIB.

In general, said Dwikorita, an eclipse can be predicted when and where it will occur. To predict their global recurrence, eclipses are grouped into certain groups called Saros cycles.

"The eclipses in a certain Saros cycle will repeat almost every 18 years 11 days 8 hours. Two eclipses close together in the same Saros cycle, the configuration of the positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth will be almost the same," explained Dwikorita.

"Therefore, the global eclipse map pattern of the two eclipses will be similar, even though the location of the visibility of the eclipses is different," he added.

For information, this year there have been five eclipses, both observable and unobserved. The five are January 5-6 Partial Solar Eclipse (GMS), January 21 Total Lunar Eclipse, July 2 Total Solar Eclipse (GMT), July 17 Partial Lunar Eclipse (GBS), and December 26 Ring Solar Eclipse (GMC).