São Paulo – The last solar eclipse of the year was entirely visible from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar as well as India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Sumatra. Kuwait, Bahrain (pictured above, in Manama) and Iraq saw a partial phenomenon, so did countries in the African continent, Australia, and Asia.
The moon moved in front of the sun, blocking out its center but leaving the edges visible — creating a “ring of fire” in the sky, which means this was an annular eclipse, not a total solar eclipse. This kind of eclipse occurs when the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely cover the Sun.
Abdullah Al-Misnad, a climate professor at Qassim University’s geography department, told Saudi newspaper Arab News that the December 26 eclipse was the first of two in the region of the Gulf, Asia and Africa. The next is due on June 21, 2020.
The solar eclipse lasted 2 minutes 55 seconds and was not visible to all Gulf countries but was limited to a 160-kilometer swathe across southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The phenomenon was not seen from Brazil.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
