Gambar fenomena gerhana matahari cincin

Orang ramai berkumpul di China, Jepun dan beberapa tempat lain di timur Asia semalam untuk melihat fenomena gerhana matahari cincin yang jarang berlaku.

Penduduk di sini dapat menyaksikan gerhana berkenaan buat seketika ekoran cuaca mendung.

Menjelang subuh, sekitar 3,000 orang melihat ke langit di sepanjang kawasan pelabuhan Tsim Sha Tsui di sini tetapi mereka cuma dapat melihat keajaiban alam itu selama 30 saat apabila awan mendung beredar sejurus selepas matahari terbit.

"Awan beredar dan sinaran matahari menyinari permukaan air, ia amat cantik," kata Kurator Muzium Angkasa Lepas Hong Kong, Chan Ki-hung.

Gerhana berkenaan dapat dilihat dengan lebih jelas di beberapa bahagian lain di China, Jepun dan Filipina apabila matahari kelihatan seperti sebentuk cincin kerana dihalang oleh bayang bulan.

"Ia seperti sebentuk cincin. Gerhana itu menyebabkan saya terkenang saat-saat melamar isteri saya pada suatu masa dahulu," kata Shigeru Seo yang menyaksikan gerhana itu bersama isterinya di Teluk Shiono, barat Jepun.

Keajaiban alam tersebut dapat dilihat di sepanjang pantai Jepun termasuk Tokyo, Nagoya dan Osaka.

Di kebanyakan kawasan di Jepun fenomena itu mencatatkan sejarah apabila gerhana matahari cincin berkenaan merupakan yang pertama dilihat oleh penduduk tempatan sejak 932 tahun dahulu.

Selain Jepun, keajaiban alam itu turut disaksikan oleh berjuta-juta penduduk di rantau Pasifik dan Amerika Syarikat (AS).

Gerhana cincin berlaku apabila bulan melintasi matahari tetapi berada terlalu jauh dari Bumi untuk 'menenggelamkan' keseluruhan bayang matahari.

Kedudukan tersebut menyebabkan matahari kelihatan seperti cincin berapi.

Kali terakhir gerhana matahari cincin yang juga disebut gerhana matahari anulus berlaku di sini adalah pada tahun 1958.

Penduduk di sini ini perlu menunggu hingga tahun 2320 untuk menyaksikan gerhana matahari cincin seterusnya.

Gerhana itu berlaku petang kelmarin mengikut waktu AS.

"Ia mengagumkan," kata seorang pelajar, Marcos Dopoto di Albuquergue, New Mexico.

Imej seperti cincin itu dapat dilihat selama lima minit di beberapa kawasan di dunia. - Agensi



Solar Eclipse 2012: The 'Ring of Fire'
The sun and moon aligned over the earth in a rare astronomical event on Sunday - an annular eclipse that dimmed the skies over parts of Asia and North America, briefly turning the sun into a blazing ring of fire.Eclipses of some type occur almost every year, but stargazers have not seen an annular - shaped like a ring -eclipse on U.S. soil since 1994, and the next one is not to occur until 2023. That is because the phenomenon requires a particular set of orbital dynamics, NASA Space Scientist Jeffrey Newmark said.An annular eclipse occurs when the moon's orbit is at its furthest point from the Earth and closer to the much larger sun. That juxtaposition allows the moon to block more than 90 percent of the sun's rays when the two orbs slide into alignment."It's like moving your fist in front of your eyes," Newmark said. "You can block out the view of a whole mountain.

It's the same kind of effect."The eclipse was first visible over southern Asia and then moved across the Pacific. Traveling on diagonal path, the eclipse began its way across parts of Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, and was expected to disappear in Texas with the sunset.

Day did not turn into night. But light faded as the moon slid in front of the sun, much like turning down a dimmer switch, and then slowly returned as the moon moved away.From start to finish, the eclipse was to be visible for just under two hours. A view of the so-called "ring of fire" spectacle at the eclipse's peak, however, was to last about four minutes, and even then was only visible to viewers positioned along the centerline of the eclipse's path.(Reuters)