Malawi to have a solar eclipse today

The country is today expected to experience a solar eclipse from 05:45PM before reaching a full eclipse at 08:40PM.

The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has said in a statement that the eclipse will end at around 1AM.

The department also said it will not be a total eclipse as the sun won’t be completely blocked out by the sun, but rather, there will be a “ring of fire from the sun and passing squarely across the face of the sun for viewers”.

Reads the statement in part: “This is because the moon will be just a little too far from the Earth to completely cover the disk of the sun. The dark conical shadow of the moon [called the umbra], from where we can see a total eclipse, extends for 379 100 kilometers out into space.”

The statement states that if the weather is favourable, Malawi and other central and northeast African countries, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, northern India, and southern China including Taiwan will have a view of the eclipse.

The department has, however, urged the public to use special glasses to protect their eyes if they want to look at the eclipse.