Total eclipse observed in Latin America

Solar eclipse as seen from the La Silla European Southern Observatory (ESO) in La Higuera, Coquimbo Region, Chile, on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of tourists braced Tuesday for a rare total solar eclipse that was expected to turn day into night along a large swath of Latin America's southern cone, including much of Chile and Argentina.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

A solar eclipse for America

A multiple exposure image shows the solar eclipse at totality as seen from Clingmans Dome, which at 6,643 feet (2,025m) is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S. on Monday. The last solar eclipse seen exclusively in total in the United States was over a hundred years ago.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google's Android Oreo promises speed, 60 new emojis

MANILA - Google on Tuesday unveiled Android Oreo, the latest version of its mobile operating system that is used by 2 billion people worldwide.

Android Oreo, named after one of the world's most popular cookies, promises faster performance, improved notifications, picture-in-picture functionality and 60 new emojis.

The new emojis include a woman wearing a burqa or veil, a carabao, a "mind-blown" facial expression and a tyrannosaurus.

Google is expected to push out the Oreo update to its Nexus and Pixel line of phones.

The 12th iteration of Android, which competes with Apple's iOS, was unwrapped as a solar eclipse swept across the US.

 source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: Total solar eclipse seen in U.S.

Emotional sky-gazers on the U.S. West Coast cheered and applauded Monday as the Sun briefly vanished behind the Moon -- a rare total solar eclipse that will stretch across North America for the first time in nearly a century.

Eclipse chasers and amateur star watchers alike converged in cities along the path of totality, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) wide path running through 14 US states, where the Moon will block out all light from the Sun.

Festivals, rooftop parties, weddings, camping trips and astronomy meet-ups popped up nationwide for what NASA expects will be the most heavily photographed and documented eclipse in modern times, thanks to the era of social media.

At about 1605 GMT, eclipse fans in Lincoln Beach, Oregon were the first to witness the partial phase of the eclipse.

More than 100,000 people have gathered in Madras, Oregon, typically a town of 7,000 for what experts described as perfect viewing conditions.

Totality began at 1716 GMT over Oregon and will end roughly 90 minutes later at 1848 GMT over Charleston, South Carolina.

In Los Angeles, "oohs and aahs" emanated from the crowd of thousands of people gathered at the Griffith Observatory in the hills above the city as the partial eclipse began.

Many hiked to the site to avoid massive traffic jams. Some watchers had fashioned their own pinhole projectors out of cardboard and scotch tape.

In Mexico, where there was a partial eclipse, astronomy buffs set up telescopes fitted with special sun filters in parks and squares in various cities.

"Put down your smartphone and experience this one emotionally, psychologically, physically, rather than just through the screen," advised prominent US astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Telescopes and smartphones

In the US capital, where 81 percent totality will occur, eclipse watchers flocked to the National Air and Space Museum, where solar telescopes were set up for the occasion. The National Zoo staged a viewing party, and national parks across the country organized programs for children.

In downtown Charleston, the last point in the path of totality, crowds of tourists -- some in special eclipse T-shirts and star-printed trousers -- made their way to the bustling East Coast city's storied waterfront to stake out a prime spot.

"It is very exciting," said Kwayera Davis, 34, an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston who was setting up telescopes in a waterfront park.

"Here we will get to see it because we are off on the water, with the shadow going off into the Atlantic."

One bar had installed outdoor speakers which blasted Bonnie Tyler's mega-hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" -- which she was to sing on a cruise ship on Monday.

"I am really pumped up about it," said t-shirt vendor Jan Dahouas, who is from Atlanta, Georgia.

"I hear it is supposed to be really moving."

President Donald Trump was expected to watch the partial eclipse from the White House with his wife Melania, his office said.

Many people who have seen eclipses in the past describe the experience as an emotional one, as the sky goes black, birds return to their nests and the air chills.

"It is such an incredible, sensory-overload kind of event," eclipse-chaser Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist, told AFP of the first total solar eclipse he saw in the United States back in 1970.

'We're ready!'

Experts warn that looking directly at an eclipse can cause permanent eye damage.

"The damage can really be permanent and right smack in the center of their vision," said Vincent Jerome Giovinazzo, director of ophthalmology at Staten Island University Hospital, Northwell Health.

The only safe time to look at it is for those within the path of totality -- and only during the brief moments when the Sun is completely blocked.

Everyone else should use proper solar eyeglasses, which are far darker than regular ones, or make a pinhole projector to see the eclipse while avoiding the glare of the Sun.

Cloudy weather and thunderstorms threatened to dash viewers' hopes in some places, including Charleston.

But so far, it was sunny in South Carolina.

Some of the clearest views were expected along the West Coast and in the Midwest.

Scientists plan to study the eclipse to learn more about the super-hot corona, or outer edge of the Sun.

Astronauts orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station are also planning to document the eclipse, and will get to see it three times.

"My first solar eclipse from space... We're ready!" wrote Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli on Twitter.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

First eclipse in 99 years to sweep North America

MIAMI - The first total solar eclipse to sweep North America in nearly a century will march across the continent August 21, casting a shadow over millions of people from coast to coast.

The event, coined the "Great American Eclipse," is inspiring a surge in tourism in the United States, along with sky-high prices for travel to key viewing spots and a rise in scams such as counterfeit solar eclipse glasses.

Celebrations are planned nationwide, including weddings timed to coincide with the eclipse and a live Caribbean cruise ship performance of the 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by the singer herself, Bonnie Tyler.

In a nation that is increasingly divided along political lines, some expressed hope that fascination for this spectacular phenomenon would offer people a chance to unite.

"A large swath of the population will be able to easily see this eclipse," astronomer James Webb at Florida International University told AFP.

"There are plenty of people out there in this day and age that are denying science, so this is an opportunity to show what we really know about the solar system."

HISTORIC ECLIPSE

The total eclipse, when the Moon fully blocks light from the Sun, will be visible from a 70-mile-wide (113-kilometer) path that carves through 14 US states.

A partial eclipse begins on the northwest coast of the United States shortly after 9 am (1600 GMT).

The total eclipse reaches the western coastline of Oregon at 10:16 am Pacific time (1716 GMT), then forges a diagonal path, exiting over South Carolina in the afternoon.

While the darkest shadows will fall over this "path of totality," a partial eclipse extends far beyond it, and may be visible as far north as Alberta, Canada and as far south as Brazil, weather permitting.

Even Britain and western France may catch an evening glimpse of a tiny sliver of the eclipse at sunset.

"They'll see a very shallow, partial eclipse," said Royal Astronomy Society acting director Robert Massey.

The last time an eclipse crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean was on June 8, 1918, when a total eclipse was visible from Washington to Florida.

EYE DAMAGE

Experts warn that looking directly at the eclipse can burn the retina, possibly causing lasting blind spots.

Anyone planning to look skyward is urged to wear the proper protective eyewear. Regular sunglasses are not strong enough.

"Probably 100 million people are going to look at this but the dangers of looking at the Sun are real and serious," said Vincent Jerome Giovinazzo, director of ophthalmology at Staten Island University Hospital Northwell Health.

"The damage can really be permanent and right smack in the center of their vision," he told AFP.

The US Fire Administration has cautioned people to beware of counterfeit glasses that don't provide the right level of protection. Solar glasses should be marked with the safety standard ISO-12312-2.

Those who don't want to stare at the sky can use cardboard or paper to make a pinhole projector that allows an image of the eclipse to show through.

Other projects aim to capture the sensory experience of an eclipse.

One, called Eclipse Soundscapes, is encouraging scientists and citizens to record environmental sounds before, during, and after to allow the blind and visually impaired to "hear and feel the physical qualities of the eclipse."

EVENTS PLANNED

For those unable to see the eclipse, NASA is planning an all-day live broadcast on its website, nasa.gov, which will feature on the Toshiba Vision screen in New York's Times Square.

Rooftop viewing parties, kayak trips, baseball games and even weddings are being held nationwide to mark the celestial event.

According to the website greatamericaneclipse.com, between 1.85 and 7.4 million people are expected to travel into the path of totality, raising concerns about traffic jams and accidents.

Prices for lodging have soared, as most hotels and flights have been quickly booked to capacity.

Raggedly motels along the highway in Casper, Wyoming -- one of the choice viewing spots -- were offering their last rooms at more than $2,100 per night as of Thursday.

The eclipse has also sparked a massive scientific effort to study the Sun's outer region, known as the corona, which is easier to study when the Moon blocks much the Sun's light.

In an age of smartphone technology, millions are expected to record and photograph the eclipse.

Donald Liebenberg, 85, a scientist at Clemson University in South Carolina, has seen 26 eclipses in his lifetime, and says each one is unique.

"When I first see the onset of totality, of course, I am impressed as the temperature drops and the sky darkens and birds return to their nests," he told AFP.

"I am impressed that even the Babylonians were able to predict when and where an eclipse would occur."

ksh/mdo

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Clear skies allowed Filipinos to see the year's first eclipse

MANILA, Philippines -- No clouds were in sight when the moon partially covered the sun early Monday, and gave many Filipinos a chance to see the first eclipse for the year.

Eclipse enthusiasts in Quezon City trooped to the observatory of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration in Diliman and were not disappointed.

But the eclipse viewed by many Filipinos was not the full annular solar eclipse or "ring of fire" seen in the US West Coast. The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) said that the annular solar eclipse began in southern China, traveling eastward to Japan and the west coast of the US.

The Philippines saw a partial solar eclipse, or 61 percent of the entire annular eclipse, beginning at 4:59 a.m., with the maximum eclipse occurring at around 5:58 a.m. Filipinos saw the eclipse until 7 a.m.

According to the NASA, a partial lunar eclipse will occur on June 4, a total solar eclipse on November 13 and a penumbral lunar eclipse on November 28. None will be fully visible in the Philippines.

source: interaksyon.com