On October 2, an annular eclipse will flood one of the most exotic places on Earth.
Easter Island is world famous for its huge collection of ancient Moai statues, carved between 1250 and 1500 AD Credit: Wikimedia Commons
You may not know it, but we are on the cusp of another solar eclipse. Next Wednesday, October 2, an annular eclipse will occur.
Of course, 71 percent of our planet's surface is made up of oceans, and this eclipse will barely touch the earth. It will be visible in its entirety from the Pacific Ocean with the exception of Easter Island and a small portion near the southern tips of Argentina and Chile. A partial eclipse, within the penumbra, will be visible from Hawaii, eastern Oceania, southern and central South America, southwestern Mexico and parts of Antarctica.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is somewhat distant from us and fails to cover the entire solar disk, leaving a ring or ring of sunlight around the edge of the Moon.
I will be together with a group of adventurers. Astronomy magazine travelers in conjunction with our travel partner, Eclipse Traveler, led by Cengiz Aras. We will see the annularity from one of the most exotic places I can think of on Earth: Easter Island, home of the famous huge stone Moai statues, which will be incredible to see. Although we do not cover parts of Chile (the expedition begins in Santiago) and Easter Island, we will have 5 minutes and 48 seconds of annularity: a long and pleasant eclipse.
I will be eager to provide you with as many reports from the field as time permits, and of course a full subsequent report will appear on our website and in Astronomy magazine.
See you on the field!
