Interested in what you just read?
Subscribe to the newsletter Ephemeris : everything that will happen in the sky in the coming month: what to watch, where to watch? All our newsletters
During its revolution around the Earth, sometimes the Moon is inserted between the Sun and the Earth, casting its shadow on the globe. Observers who are perfectly in the Sun-Moon alignment then have the privilege of attending a solar eclipse.
It is very dark and the stars the brightest appear. Around the black disc of the Moon, a halo of light unfolds. It’s here solar corona, the’atmosphere luminous sunlight. You can see protuberances jutting out around the moon’s black disk, like tongues of fire.
This is what will happen this December 4th. Observers not in the line-up will only attend one partial eclipse.
View of the Moon’s shadow cone projected on the Earth, during an alignment of the two stars with the Sun. © DR
Most of the eclipse will be over the ocean. Observers located on the continent Antarctic will be able to see the eclipse.
The eclipse will begin in the Atlantic Ocean at 7:03 UT, 500 kilometers southeast of the Falkland Islands. The South Orkney Islands will be the only place on Mainland before the eclipse hits Antarctica. At that point, the whole will only last 1 minute and 8 seconds. The eclipse maximum will be over the Weddell Sea at 0733 GMT. The duration of the eclipse will then be 1 minute and 54 seconds. At 8:01 UTC, the shadow will cross the Amundsen Sea. The duration will then be 1 minute and 34 seconds.
The eclipse will travel a total of 6,000 kilometers on the Globe, and will end at 8:04 am UT.
We remind you that you should not look at the Sun without protection, at the risk of permanently losing your sight. You can also observe the eclipse by projection, which will allow you to see it in complete safety.
To learn more about eclipses, see the feature on the eclipse mechanism.
.
fs4