African Astronomical Society Eclipse Resources

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Jun 20

2020

by Kai Staats

The African Astronomical Society is coordinating a pan-African public campaign for the 21 June solar eclipse in collaboration with outreach experts across the continent. It has made several resources available in Kiswahili, Amharic, and English.

All resources are free for download and to be shared widely. MMAO is proud to have played a part in translation, orchestration, and weather permitting—a live broadcast from the observatory in Meru, Arusha, Tanzania. 

Find here a summary of the resources available to learn about and then safely observe the annular solar eclipse Sunday, June 21. As noted on the website Time and Date, “The annular phase of this solar eclipse is visible from parts of Africa including the Central African Republic, Congo, and Ethiopia; south of Pakistan and northern India; and China. Weather permitting, people in these areas will see the characteristic ring of fire.” 

Local Type: Partial Solar Eclipse, in Arusha
Begins: Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 6:46 am
Maximum: Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 7:46 am 0.62 Magnitude
Ends: Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 8:55 am
Duration: 2 hours, 9 minutes

Live Broadcasts
If you live in a part of the world that will not be able to see the eclipse, or if the weather in your region is not cooperating, you can watch the eclipse live.

Handbook for Africa: Annular Solar Eclipse 2020
This project was made possible by the Science Stars Magazine in design, Mponda Malozo and Zacharia Mjungu of the Mt. Meru Astronomical Observatory and Ingo Koll for multiple language translations, and Dr. Noorali Jiwaji in proofreading. Download the book for free!

Android App in Kiswahili
The Annular solar Eclipse App in Kiswahili is available for free download from the Google Play Store. This app is useful to learn about the eclipse timings and visibility for your location or anywhere else in the world, as well as provide some basic information on eclipses in general and safe ways of viewing it. Download the app from Google Play Store.

How to Make your Own Solar Viewer
This DIY video on how to make a solar viewer from Susan and Daniel-Chu with the Traveling Telescope project can be viewed at YouTube.

Podcast about the Annular Solar Eclipse
A podcast about the eclipse by Cosmic Savannah, Alemiye Mamo, Prosperity Simpemba, and Niruj Ramanujam can be viewed now!

AfAS Press Release
The African Astronomical Society has issued a press release. You may read it now:
www.africanastronomicalsociety.org/afas-press-release-on-the-annular-solar-eclipse-2/

To learn, more visit the AfAS Annual Solar Eclipse page hosts the Handbook for Africa, a 7-poster series, an Android app that offers information about the eclipse, and a list of live webcasts from around the world.