The total eclipse will last up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds, making it the longest solar eclipse this century! We will have to wait until the year 2132 to have an eclipse longer than this one!
Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) for Malaysians, we would not be able to experience the total eclipse, although we would be able to witness a partial eclipse.
The path of the Moon's umbral shadow will begin in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the eclipse will cross into Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curve southeast through the Pacific Ocean.
Do you know why it will be a long eclipse? Well, this is because at this time of the year, the Sun is farthest away from Earth, thus is smallest in size. Whereas the Moon is nearest to Earth, therefore it appears bigger in size. With a big Moon blocking a small Sun, what do you get? A longer eclipse, that's what!
Diagram of solar eclipse courtesy of wikimedia.org
So are you excited? Can't wait to catch the eclipse? But wait! Not so fast!
The reason why I said earlier that we in Malaysia are probably fortunate not to catch the total solar eclipse is because solar eclipse is never a good sign.
According to Joey Yap, Malaysia's famous feng shui expert, this solar eclipse will bring us bad luck especially if we are exposed to it. One minute exposure will attract one year of bad luck, two minutes will attract two years of bad luck, so imagine being exposed for a total of 20 minutes or longer! Read my post on what Joey Yap said.
T. Selva, the practitioner of Vasthu Sastra (also known as Indian feng shui), mentioned in The Star newspaper last week that this solar eclipse will create negative energies that would affect everyone. Read the article online.
According to him, any eclipse signals a time to be wary and this is especially true when it involves the Sun as all living beings are dependent on the Sun. The impact of the negative energies when the Sun is obscured causes a lack of courage, fatigue and low self-esteem. People are advised not to carry out their usual activities, not to travel and stay indoors.
Those who were born during the eclipse should take even more care than others. During this unfavourable period, every individual will experience some sort of disruption at work, home, business and travel. He advised everyone to offer prayers and clean their homes to remove all harmful energies after the eclipse.
For those staying in KL, the eclipse will start at 8.29am and end at 9.48am. The peak of the eclipse when the Moon covers the Sun the most (which to us, only covers 8% of the Sun disk since we are not in the totality path) will happen at 9.07am.
If you want to test out whether this eclipse really brings bad luck, go ahead, get out there and watch the eclipse. But remember, never watch with the naked eye for you can go blind! Take note that sunglasses, exposed film, X-ray film and polaroid filters cannot be counted on to protect your eyes. Only use filters and glasses that are specifically made for viewing the Sun.
For me, I think I will stay indoors as a precautionary measure. What about you?
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