The Astronomy Society of Nigeria (ASN) has recently refuted claims that Monday’s Solar Eclipse, which occurred in certain parts of America, was also observed in Nigeria. The President of ASN, Prof. Augustine Ubachukwu, explained that this claim was incorrect since a solar eclipse takes place during the day, unlike the lunar eclipse that happens during the night. He further clarified that the path of the eclipse this year did not pass through the Southern hemisphere and that by the time the movement was passing through Mexico, the United States, through Canada, it was already nighttime in Nigeria, so it wouldn’t have been possible to observe the eclipse in the country.
According to Ubachukwu, a solar eclipse has to occur during the new moon and the day. He added that other parts of the world have always witnessed eclipses, unlike the United States which would experience the next one in August 2044. He also mentioned that in the Southern hemisphere, a total solar eclipse might occur before 2044, and it’s only a matter of the alignment of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon.
Ubachukwu further explained that being preview to the total solar eclipse event was a thrilling occurrence that exposed the part of the sun that had been hidden from human beings. During this type of eclipse, the temperature of the outermost part of the sun is so hot, but the moon covers it, enabling astronomers to observe some of the energetic particles thrown out from the sun and study them.
The president noted that the eclipse which could have taken place for about four minutes would have recorded a total time phenomenon of two hours, with the moon gradually covering the sun. He also mentioned that the exact laws of physics and its predictive nature had made it possible to project events like an eclipse and some other natural occurrences.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) earlier studied the trajectory of the eclipse and revealed that it moved from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The eclipse then exited continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
