A solar eclipse was witnessed across the vast Indonesian archipelago on today, with hordes of sky gazers set to watch the spectacle, which will be marked by parties, prayers and tribal rituals. The moon moved between the Earth and sun at 6:19 am (0449 IST), the official Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics Agency said.
The rare astronomical event is being witnessed along a narrow path that stretches across 12 provinces encompassing three time zones and about 40 million people. In other parts of the Indonesian archipelago and Asia, a partial eclipse is visible.
The total eclipse will sweep across 12 out of 34 provinces in Indonesia, which stretches about 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) from east to west, before heading across the Pacific Ocean. It was visible for just one and a half to three minutes in most places.
“The sun totally disappeared. How amazing this sunny morning suddenly changed to dark,” said Junaz Amir, a Sigi resident who witnessed the eclipse with his family.
“I’m so happy that I can see this rare phenomenon in my life,” said Nurjanah Hassan, a mother of three in Ternate in eastern Indonesia, which will be one of the last cities in the eclipse’s path.
“It is now dark here, but unfortunately, we cannot see the sun. It is totally covered by clouds,” said Hery Gus in Bengkulu, a southwestern province of Sumatra.
"It was spectacular," Daniel Orange, a 52-year-old American tourist from California, who was watching the total eclipse on the small western island of Belitung, said. "It was very beautiful, there are a lot of people here and when the totality hit, everybody cheered. I got goose bumps."
“It’s an extraordinary spectacle that only takes place about once a year in one part of the world,” said Arnaud Fischer, a 33-year-old French tourist, who has witnessed several eclipses and was set to watch today’s in Ternate.” I Gde Pitana, the government’s head of foreign tourism, described the phenomenon as “a tourism attraction created by God”.
From a festival featuring live bands, to fun runs and traditional dances, events were taking place across Indonesia for an estimated 10,000 foreign visitors and 100,000 domestic tourists witnessing the phenomenon.
By Premji
