MANILA – Astronomy enthusiasts, students, teachers and ordinary Filipinos on Thursday braved the scorching heat to witness a partial solar eclipse that lasted for over two hours.

The Philippines was among the countries that were able to witness the astronomical event, which is properly called a hybrid eclipse due to the visibility of both an annular and total solar eclipse in some countries.

An annular solar eclipse forms when the moon crosses the path of the sun and appears as a dark disk on top of a larger bright disk creating an image of a ring around the moon.

A total solar eclipse, on the other hand, is when the light from the sun is completely obscured by the moon.

State weather bureau PAGASA said both types of eclipses were observed in Western Australia, Timor-Leste, West Papua and Papua.

The Philippines is higher than the path where obscuration is highest which is why only a partial solar eclipse was observed. The partial eclipse was observed in Southeast Asia, East Indies, Australia, Solomon Island, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

Aside from Manila, other parts of the country were also able to witness the partial eclipse but with slightly lower obscuration rates. These incude Laoag City, Tuguegarao City, Baguio City and Dagupan City.

Parts of Mindanao, including Surigao Del Norte, Molugan and Davao City were able to observe higher obscuration rates. But according to PAGASA, the highest rate of obscuration was seen in General Santos City at 55.6 percent or more than half of the sun covered by the moon.

The last time a partial solar eclipse was recorded in the Philippines was on December 26, 2019 and at the height of the pandemic on June 21, 2020.

Mario Raymundo, chief of the astronomical observation and time service unit of PAGASA says the public will still be able to witness another partial solar eclipse in the next few years.

“The next partial solar eclipse after 2023 visible in the Philipines will be July 22, 2028. Dadaan po ito sa Australia. Dito naman sa Pilipinas ganito po ang maximum obscuration rate, mga 13.4 percent,” Raymundoo said.

A total solar eclipse is also seen to happen in the country. But this will take place exactly 19 years after today’s partial eclipse or on April 20, 2042.

Because of this, PAGASA and other experts reminded the public not to look directly at solar eclipses either through the naked eye or binoculars as doing so is extremely harmful.

Professor Ed Rosales, an astronomer clearly demonstrated this danger after placing a pencil through the viewing lens of a telescope. It almost immediately caught fire.

“Ganiyan po ka delikado pag sumilip sa telescope. Masusunog ang mata natin. Hindi tayo completely mabubulag kasi may isa pa tayong mata, pero mabubulag ang isang mata,” he said.

He advised the public, in the absence of safe lenses, to use the pinhole effect by placing interlacing fingers and placing it under the sun to create a shadow and pinhole. As the hands are placed closer to the ground, the shape of the sun, including the obscuration, should be visible.

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