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A total solar eclipse will occur on March 9 (Wednesday), but it will be visible only as a partial solar eclipse in Hong Kong, weather permitting.
It will begin at 8.05am and end at 9.57am, with the maximum eclipse occurring at 8.58am. This partial solar eclipse will have a magnitude of 0.331, meaning that 33.1 per cent of the Sun's diameter will be obscured by the Moon at maximum eclipse. Please refer to the attached annex and diagram for the details of the partial solar eclipse and the path of the Sun and the Moon during this partial solar eclipse.
As the elevation of the Sun will be rather high during the eclipse, most places with an unobstructed view to the east-southeast will be suitable for viewing the event.
Members of the public should never look directly at the Sun with naked eyes nor through a telescope in order to avoid severe damage to their eyes. A safer method is to project the Sun's image through a pinhole or a telescope onto a piece of white paper or cardboard and view the projected image. An illustration of the method is given on the website of the Hong Kong Observatory:
www.weather.gov.hk/gts/event/event-solar-eclps16_e.htm.ˇ@
Members of the public can also watch the whole event via a webcast starting from 8am that morning to be jointly provided by the Observatory, the Hong Kong Space Museum, the Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre, Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Solar TowerˇECamp on the following webpage:
www.weather.gov.hk/gts/event/webcast-20160309.htm.ˇ@
The next solar eclipse observable in Hong Kong will occur on December 26, 2019. It will also be a partial solar eclipse.
For the weather on March 9, please refer to the latest 9-day Weather Forecast issued by the Observatory at the following webpage:
www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm.ˇ@
As regards the astronomical observation conditions for that morning, please refer to the "Weather Information for Astronomical Observation" webpage:
www.hko.gov.hk/gts/astronomy/astro_portal.html.ˇ@
Please refer to the Observatory's webpage for a detailed explanation of the technical terms used for different stages of the eclipse and past solar eclipses observable in Hong Kong:
www.weather.gov.hk/gts/event/event-solar-eclps1_e.htm.
Ends/Friday, February 26, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:03
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