JEDDAH: A partial solar eclipse will be visible today in many cities and towns in the northeastern, eastern and central regions of the Kingdom.
Ali M. Al-Shukri, head of the Physics Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, said the eclipse would appear first in the northern city of Arar at 1:26 p.m., in Hafr Al-Batin at 1:34 p.m., Jubail at 1:37 p.m., Dammam at 1:40 p.m., Hofuf at 1:45 p.m., Buraidah at 1:51 p.m. and Riyadh at 1:55 p.m.
Al-Shukri warned against looking directly at the sun during the eclipse. “Failure to take adequate safety precautions could severely damage one’s eyes. This might even lead to total blindness,” he told Arab News.
“Avoid using unapproved, non-filter sunglasses, smoked glasses, or photography negatives to view annular or partial solar eclipses since they may not be able to block all of the harmful infrared rays,” he added.
Al-Shukri also urged parents to take care of their children when watching the eclipse. “Any attempt by children to watch the eclipse should be under the supervision of their parents or a qualified adult,” he said.
Eclipses take place whenever the sun, earth and moon come in a straight line. A lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon enters the earth’s shadow as it orbits the earth and a solar eclipse occurs when the new moon casts its shadow on the earth as it passes between the sun and the earth.
Al-Shukri said the solar eclipse would be total in the Arctic, northeastern Canada, northeastern Greenland, central Russia, western Mongolia, and northwestern China where it will end.
“The longest period of totality will be about two minutes and 27 seconds in Nadym city in northern Russia,” he pointed out.
The partial phase of the eclipse will be visible in the Gulf countries (except in western and southern Saudi Arabia), in most of Asia and Europe, northeastern North America and the Arctic. It will not be visible in the Far East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, most of North America and the Antarctica.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the grand mufti, has said that people in western and southern Saudi Arabia do not need to perform the special prayers today as the eclipse will not be visible in these parts.
