The darkness would be the outcome of a total solar eclipse, already dubbed in the US as the Great American Eclipse, astronomer Darius de la Cruz of the Astronomy Division of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in an interview with Punto.
The phenomenon will be the first total solar eclipse to sweep US coastto- coast in 99 years and is expected to be the most heavily viewed and studied of all eclipses, he said. It will also be the first to pass through any part of the lower 48 states in 38 years.
An astronomer from the US has been quoted to have commented on his Twitter account that “this will be the most photographed, most shared, most tweeted event in human history.”
“In the US, the darkness caused by the Great American Eclipse will pass across 12 states will last only about two minutes in areas the moon’s shadow travels across,” De la Cruz said.
But De la Cruz said that, unfortunately, the eclipse, already causing a stir among Americans in US mainland, will not be experienced in the Philippines.
“I don’t think the Aug. 21 event will be seen even partially in Asia,” he said.
Aug. 21, however, will still be significant in the Philippines as it is marked as Ninoy Aquino Day, commemorating the assassination of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. as soon as his plane landed at the Manila International Airport in 1986.
De la Cruz said that on that day, the moon’s shadow would travel across continental United States through 12 states from Oregon to South Carolina.
Various US-based websites have come out with suggestions for Americans to prepare “all the best tools and equipment, from state-of-the-art solar filters and telescopes to do-it-yourself pinhole cameras” for the solar eclipse.
De la Cruz said that while the Aug. 21 eclipse travelling coast-to-coast in the US is uncommon and last occurred 99 years ago, ordinary solar eclipses occur every 18 months.
Most of such eclipses, however, are not observed since the earth’s surface is about 70 percent water, while other such phenomena land on unpopulated land areas, he noted.
