Canterbury Astronomical Society shows eclipse to the Christchurch community Members of the Canterbury Astronomical Society will help Christchurch residents enjoy a solar eclipse on February 7th. Groups of members will set up their telescopes around the city with filters that make it safe for people to view the Sun. The eclipse is the best that Christchurch has experienced since 1991, with 53% of the Sun obscured by the Moon. If the day is sunny then people may notice that sunlight is slightly strange, but to get the best view you need equipment that is properly shielded. Do not try to view the Sun through normal binoculars, telescopes or smoked glass, or you may suffer permanent damage to your eyes, including blindness.
Eclipse-Hunters Get Ready for Partial Eclipse of the Sun on Thursday February 7th 2008. A partial eclipse of the sun will be visible from all parts of New Zealand on February 7th 2008. These events occur when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, but does not completely block our view of the Sun.
"The sun will look like it has a bite out of it, but the bite is the moon" - Graham Murray, Stardome Observatory.
There will be an annular solar eclipse on Thursday, 7 February, 2008, in Antarctica and the southern Pacific Ocean. The annular phase runs from 03:19:43 UT to 04:30:55 UT. The eclipse is visible as a partial eclipse from New Zealand, most of Antarctica, south-west Australia between 01:38:29 UT and 06:11:55 UT.