An extraordinary solar eclipse was observed in an Australian Town that made thousands of people gather to watch from the best angle possible. On Thursday, the sky over Exmouth turned dark for approximately 60 seconds when there was a 40 km wide shadow of the moon over the area. The total eclipse occurs only a handful of times per century which is part of a rare hybrid eclipse. However, it was seen as a partial eclipse in other parts of the world, especially in Asia-Pacific.
Different View From Different Places
The solar eclipse started over the Indian Ocean at the time of sunrise and ended over the Pacific Ocean at the time of Sunset. It was observed differently from different points. Some watched it as a total solar eclipse. Others viewed it as an annular solar eclipse, in which the Moon does not block completely the whole part of the Sun. Hence it is also known as a partial eclipse.
Rare total eclipse plunges town into darkness | Exmouth, WA | 9 News Australia
Like a Dream
Tourists and scientists moved to Exmouth and cheered when the temperature dropped, the sky turned dark and the stars came out. Some of them expressed themselves to local media that the eclipse felt surreal, “like a dream” and others described it as an “almost religious experience”. “It’s only a minute long, but it really felt like a long time. There is nothing else you can see which looks like that,” said one tourist jumping with excitement on live TV. The last hybrid solar eclipse was observed in November 2013, and NASA predicted the next in 2031.
People in Western Australia in the part of Timor-Leste and West Papua had the opportunity to get the perfect view of the total solar eclipse. However, those living in the Exmouth Peninsula experienced the total solar eclipse, at 11:27 local time (04:27 BST).
