2023-10-15 03:06:04
Millions of residents of America raised their gaze to the sky this Saturday to appreciate the annular solar eclipse, which produced an effect called the “ring of fire” because the Moon is not able to completely cover the Sun.
Shortly after 8:00 local time (12:00 GMT), the Moon began to cover the Sun in the town of Eugene, in the state of Oregon (USA), as shown by NASA’s live broadcast.
However, In some parts of the United States it went unnoticed due to bad weather, as occurred in areas of California.
According to NASA, an hour after emerging in Oregon, the partial eclipse began to be seen in the shape of a bitten cookie in locations such as Kerrville (Texas) and Albuquerque (New Mexico).
From that moment on, the phenomenon could also be observed during the day in the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela, among others.
Expectation in the Mexican Caribbean and Central America
And the annular eclipse that was observed in part of the Yucatan Peninsula attracted the attention of amateur and professional photographers who gathered at the rural community of Francisco Villavery close to the Kohunlich archaeological zone, although it did not leave everything in darkness as many expected.
From various points in the state, but mainly from Cancún, photographers, friends and family moved to the most accessible point where, according to the coordinates, the so-called “ring of fire” would be visible.
“Having a great opportunity to take photographs of a phenomenon that does not happen regularly, especially near where you live, today we are fortunate to be 6, 7 hours from where we live, which is Cancun and it is a great opportunity”commented photographer Félix Barra.
According to EFE, Nicaraguan spectators also flocked to different observation points in the country to witness the eclipse, which became the news of the day on social networks, especially to issue recommendations to protect eyesight.
Among the curious were students from the North American Nicaraguan Cultural Center (CCNN), in Managua, who gathered in its parking lot to observe with telescopes.
Additionally, at the Pierre and Marie Curie private school, in a residential area of Managua, Parents and students observed the phenomenon with “highly specialized teams,” according to its organizers.
Children were the most enthusiastic in El Salvador, where 83% could be observed.
Nonetheless, in some places it had no effect, as the sky became cloudy.
In the Plaza Salvador del Mundo and the Bicentenario Park, in the municipalities of San Salvador and La Libertad, people with improvised dark glasses waited for a few hours to observe the eclipse, which partially darkened some areas for a few minutes.
“The moon is still without earrings”
In Honduras the eclipse began to be seen around 10:00 local time (16:00 GMT). The phenomenon was seen in its entirety in La Ceiba, (department of Atlántida), Méndez, Boca Mame and San Francisco (Yoro) and Gualaco, Santa María del Real and Catacamas (Olancho), in the north and east of Honduras.
Evoking an old bolero by Cuban José Dolores Quiñones, which Bienvenido Granda made famous in the 1950s, Honduran José Heriberto Velásquez said this Saturday that he enjoyed the annular eclipse, watching “the moon that continues without earrings” and to the sun “with a ring.”
Velásquez, 67, said he saw the annular eclipse on the beaches of La Ceiba, in the Honduran Caribbean, remembering his parents, who when he was “about six years old, listened to Bienvenido Granda singing ‘The earrings that are missing from Moon'”.
“Majestic”, “Great”, “Spectacular”, “How beautiful”said the hundreds of users who followed EFE’s broadcast of the eclipse live on social media from the province of Coclé, in central Panama, where it could be seen in its entirety.
At the Astronomical Observatory of Panama (OAP), of the Technological University in Coclé, the expectation was maximum throughout the morning, with telescopes prepared pointing at the sky and children and adults attentive with special viewers, until around 1:12 p.m. local time (18:12 GMT) the peak of a phenomenon lasting approximately three and a half hours was reached.
There was applause and even a violinist played Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, before everything went dark on a morning in which at times it was thought that clouds could ruin the show.
Hundreds of Venezuelans came excited and intrigued to a park in Caracas, where more than a dozen telescopes were installed and special lenses were distributed, as part of an astronomy meeting organized by the Government.
In the vicinity of the Humboldt Planetarium, inside the Francisco de Miranda park, most attendees observed the eclipse with special glasses and a few used welding mask filters or x-ray plates, while a large screen broadcast live.
In total, the eclipse lasted about 351 minutes (just under 6 hours).
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