Notes

ANYER, Indonesia (Achieve3000, February 3, 2009). What is an eclipse? It is when one celestial body passes over another. This happens in Earth's sky. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes over the sun. It blocks out the sun. Everything gets dark. A solar eclipse took place on January 26, 2009. Many people turned up to witness it. Eclipses don't happen often.

"I'm old. But I still think this is [exciting]," said Roanna Makmur. Makmur, age 66, drove many hours to see the eclipse. Eight friends came with her. "Anyone who passed up this [chance] really missed out," Makmur said.

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Photo credit: AP
These children are using special glasses to watch a solar eclipse.
Makmur and others watched the moon slowly cross the sun's path. They cheered. The eclipse was not total. It was annular. What does this mean? The moon covered most of the sun. But the rim stayed uncovered. It looked like a thin, blazing rim of fire. Annular eclipses happen about 66 times every 100 years. Like other eclipses, they're not visible everywhere.

This eclipse was seen in many parts of Indonesia. People in Cocos saw it, too. Cocos is a tiny South Pacific island. Other people could see a partial eclipse. These people were in southern Africa, southeastern India, parts of southeast Asia, and western Australia. For them, the moon covered only part of the sun.

It is dangerous to look straight at an eclipse. It can hurt people's eyes. People were told to wear special glasses. These glasses helped. People could also look at the sun's reflection in buckets of water.