Look: Amazing Images Capture Incredibly Rare Total Solar Eclipse
Parts of Chile and Argentina were set to experience a total solar eclipse Tuesday, the first since 2017.
A solar eclipse, of course, describes the phenomenon in which the moon blocks the sun from shining on parts of the Earth.
Partial solar eclipses in and of themselves are rare.
Total eclipses, where the sun is completely blocked by the moon, are even rarer.
“The July 2nd eclipse is the first total solar eclipse since the transcontinental total solar eclipse in summer of 2017,” astrophysicist Paige Godfrey of the Slooh Community Observatory said in a statement, according to CNN.
“That was almost two years ago now, and people are still talking about it as the greatest celestial event of their lifetimes. That event has had a lasting effect that has heightened excitement for many of these to come,” Godfrey added.
According to KABC: “The partial eclipse will first reach Chile at 3:22 p.m. ET, with the total eclipse beginning at 4:38 p.m. ET. The total eclipse lasts a matter of minutes in each location.”
The eclipse was set to “travel across the Andes mountain range before ending near Buenos Aires, Argentina, at 4.44 p.m. ET.,” CNN added.
AFP reported that thousands of tourists flocked to the area around La Silla Observatory to watch the eclipse.
Photos and videos of the eclipse quickly made their way to Twitter:
Primeras imágenes del eclipse total de Sol, este martes desde La Higuera, región de Coquimbo, Chile #AFP
? @mbernetti pic.twitter.com/x3Zl75TbDr— Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) July 2, 2019
There’s the corona! A total solar eclipse lets us see the Sun’s outer atmosphere with the unaided eye. Head over to https://t.co/U8T7pZaI5r to watch the rest of the eclipse! pic.twitter.com/sc8aMamV4k
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) July 2, 2019
Incredible! You can clearly see the sun’s shadow from the Southern Hemisphere solar eclipse moving from west to east. It’s about to meet sunset moving from east to west across South America. Less than 5 years from now, TOTAL eclipse here in Arkansas ! #ARWX pic.twitter.com/QzzyC4YbcI
— Todd Yakoubian (@KATVToddYak) July 2, 2019
WATCH #LIVE: There’s a total #solareclipse happening now, but you can’t go outside and see this one! https://t.co/vTi93PCG5Z pic.twitter.com/LnPkh4CofG
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) July 2, 2019
Great South American total #solareclipse stuns #Argentina
LIVE: https://t.co/ut6p05h219 pic.twitter.com/WCELH5nXBJ
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) July 2, 2019
The #SolarEclipse is progressing nicely! Watch with @esascience astronomers live from @ESO in Chile.
? https://t.co/fvEUlH36kn pic.twitter.com/NfAQRKBIK0— ESA (@esa) July 2, 2019
WATCH LIVE: Total solar eclipse darkens skies across South America. https://t.co/0sCP2rsjSy
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) July 2, 2019
Watch the total solar eclipse as seen from Chile https://t.co/FATt7c70XG
— TIME (@TIME) July 2, 2019
According to CNN, the next total solar eclipse is expected to occur in 2020.
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