Bandar Seri Begawan – A perfect alignment of the 3 celestial bodies, Earth-Moon-Sun, will occur on Sunday June 21, 2020, resulting in a spectacular annular solar eclipse which can only be view from specific areas on Earth.

The annular phase of this solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Africa including the Central African Republic, Congo, and Ethiopia; Asia in Yemen, Oman, south of Pakistan and northern India, China including Taiwan. You must be located within the narrow path of annularity represented on the map above by a red line (about 11,400 km long and 21 km width), where people in these areas will see the characteristic “ring of fire”.

Use this Interactive World Map of the Annular Sun Eclipse of June 21, 2020 by NASA to find out start time of the eclipse for your location: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2020Jun21Agoogle.html

While for many areas around the globe will experiencing some part of the Sun is covered by the Moon in most Africa, Southeastern Europe, most of Asia including Brunei Darussalam and some tip of Northern Australia (see map above).

Partial Solar Eclipse from Brunei

The partial solar eclipse happens when the moon never completely covers the sun. In Brunei, the phenomenon will start at exactly 3:10 pm, will last for about two hours and 13 minutes. The maximum phase of the eclipse (greatest obscuration) will occur at 4:22:36 pm with the moon covering 28.2 per cent of the sun’s disc. The partial eclipse will end when the moon leaves the sun’s edge at 5:23 pm. Diagrams of the eclipse sequence or phases from Brunei in Local Time are as follow:

The next eclipses visible from Brunei Darussalam:
1. Total Lunar on Wednesday, 26 May 2021 and Partial Lunar on Friday, 19 November 2021
2. Partial Solar on Thursday, 20 April 2023

Partial Eclipse Visibility for Southeast Asia

The partial eclipse of the Sun will be widely visible to areas in the Southeast Asia regions from Burma to the Philippines, but will not be visible from West Java Indonesia. The map and table of timing for the eclipse show below:

Viewing Eclipse of the Sun Safely

Watching a solar eclipse will be a breath taking experience especially because of it’s rarity and mystery. However, it comes with a warning! Our sun emits dangerous radiations. Never look directly at the Sun without proper solar filter even when if the Sun is almost completely blocked during the solar eclipse or by the clouds.

Don’t stare at the sun without protective glasses. Avoid using improper solar filters such CD, plastic bag, sunglasses, exposed x-ray film etc. to view the sun as harmful radiation can still pass through these objects.  You can purchase a solar eclipse glass. Solar UV radiation can burn the retinas at the back of your eyes, and cause permanent damage or even blindness. Another safe method of viewing the sun is to use a projection of the sun using small pin-hole camera or binocular or a small telescope.

Astronomy Eclipse Talk

Live streams

List of live streaming videos of the eclipse from around the world:

Find out more on 21 June 2020 Annular Solar Eclipse resources and events compiled by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) https://iau.org/public/noc/eclipse/

Solar Eclipse Activities

Let us know if you are organising either individual or in group for Jun 21 solar eclipse observation or activities in Brunei Darussalam & get featured in our first nationwide livestream solar eclipse coverage. Contact: +673874 4170 (Hj Jamri)  or e-mail jamri@bruneiastronomy.org

• A partial lunar eclipse will occur just before dawn on Wednesday, July 17, in Brunei Darussalam. The next total lunar eclipse is on 26 May 2021
• For Brunei, 65 per cent of the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow or Umbra when it is close to setting in the western sky

Countdown to July 17, 2019 Partial Lunar Eclipse

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse begins, 02:44
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Partial Lunar Eclipse begins, 04:01
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Maximum eclipse, 05:30
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Moon sets, 06:21
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Bandar Seri Begawan – The partial eclipse will happen on July 17, 2019, at dawn and will last about two hours, with up to 65 per cent of the moon in darkness. It will be visible in our country Brunei Darussalam and most parts of Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America. 

A partial eclipse occurs when the earth moves between the sun and the moon, but the three celestial bodies do not form a straight line. This causes some part of the moon’s surface to be covered by the the earth’s shadow.

From Brunei, a Lunar eclipse will start when the Moon passes through the earth’s penumbral shadow beginning at 2.44 a.m. (local Brunei time) on July 17, 2019. The partial lunar eclipse phase will start when part of the darkest Earth’s shadow or Umbra covers the moon at 04:01 a.m.

For Brunei, the maximum eclipse is at 05:30 a.m. This is when more than half of the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow or Umbra and close to setting in the western sky. The eclipse can only be viewed until moon set at 6:21 a.m.

There will be an online live observation of this phenomenon from the Mini Observatory, Tutong, which can be viewed via www.facebook.com/bruneiastronomy starting from 2 a.m., subject to weather. The live viewing of the eclipse is organized by the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam. This event has been registered to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as a global celebration to increase awareness of a century of astronomical discoveries #iau100 including the historic moon landing event on 1969 #MoonLanding50.

Bandar Seri Begawan – A perfect  alignment of the Earth-Moon-Sun bodies will occur on December 26, 2019, resulting in a spectacular annular solar eclipse visible in few cities of Saudi Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Borneo and the Pacific Ocean .

Partial Eclipse from Brunei Darussalam

As seen from a location on Earth, a solar eclipse happens when the moon moves in front of the Sun thus block the Solar disk. It is a miss, as people in Brunei will only see a partial eclipse with 85.8% obscuration of the Sun by the Moon. A simulation of the partial Solar Eclipse as seen from Brunei during mid-day is shown in the video below.

Since people in Brunei will only witness the partial obscuration of the sun by the moon, features that are normally visible during annular/total eclipse such as ring of fire and darkening of the sky/surrounding will not be observable from Brunei.

Eclipse timing for Brunei Darussalam

The partial eclipse which will start at exactly 12:04 pm, will last for about three hours and 39 minutes in Brunei. The maximum phase of the eclipse will occur at 2:02:58 pm with the moon covering 85.8 per cent of the sun’s disc. The partial eclipse will end when the moon leaves the sun’s edge at 3.43 pm. Diagrams of the eclipse sequence or phases from Brunei in Local Time are as follow:

From Bandar Seri Begawan, the percentage of the Sun’s disk covered by the Moon will proceed as follows:

Future Eclipses from Brunei Darussalam

The next eclipses visible from Brunei Darussalam:
1. Partial Solar (28.2%) on Sunday, 21 June 2020
2. Total Lunar on Wednesday, 26 May 2021 and Partial Lunar on Friday, 19 November 2021

Worldwide Visibility of Annular Eclipse – In the Moon’s shadow

The annular eclipse will be visible in a very narrow 9000 km path (blue line of about 158 km width) across the globe crossing Saudi Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Borneo. From this area, the annular eclipse can be visible for up to 3 minutes and 39 second at the greatest path. These are the cities which will experience the annular eclipse:

Use this Interactive World Map of the Annular Sun Eclipse of December 26, 2019 by time.unitarium.com to find out the start time of the eclipse: http://time.unitarium.com/events/eclipse/122019/map.html

While for most areas (yellow shade) outside the central path will only get to see partial eclipse of the sun, with different degree of the moon covering the Sun or magnitude depending on your location. For Brunei, the magnitude is 85.8%.

This map shows the path of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2019 Dec 26 for ASEAN region. The path limits are in yellow and the central line is blue, a merely misses for Brunei – you must be somewhere within the central path to see the annular phase of the eclipse such as from Bau, Kota Samarahan, Serian, Sri Aman and Betong in Sarawak. The red lines indicate the different magnitude or fraction of the Sun’s diameter occulted by the Moon during the eclipse, for ASEAN region.

Annular eclipse timings and duration for Borneo

Use this table to determine the beginning and ending of the partial phase and annularity eclipse from different major cities in Borneo.

Notice from the table above that the duration of annularity will be longer as the location gets very close to the central line annular eclipse path.

What to expect during Annular Eclipse of the sun

Caution: During an annular eclipse of the sun, a ‘ring of fire’ remains and the Sun still emits direct light.  Even though the sunlight is greatly reduced, it is still not possible to safely view with the naked eyes.  Solar filters must be used throughout.  As a result, key features of the Total Solar Eclipse such as the corona and seeing stars/planets are missing but ones will still experience the gradual dimming of light, fauna reactions, the approaching darkness (moon’s shadow) on the horizon and seeing the Ring. It is still a rare opportunity to watch Baily’s Beads can generally be had from the edges of the path of the annular eclipse.

Viewing the sun eclipse safely

Watching a solar eclipse will be a breath taking experience especially because of it’s rarity, mystery and religious beliefs. However, it comes with a warning! Our sun emits dangerous radiations. Never look directly at the Sun without proper solar filter even when if the Sun is almost completely blocked during the solar eclipse.

Solar UV radiation can burn the retinas at the back of your eyes, and cause permanent damage or even blindness. Avoid using improper solar filters such CD, plastic bag, sunglasses, exposed x-ray film etc. to view the sun as harmful radiation can still pass through these objects.  You can purchase a solar eclipse glass. Another safe method of viewing the sun is to use a projection of the sun using small pin-hole camera or binocular or a small telescope.

Upcoming activities and observation for this eclipse will be updated on this page soon.

Eclipse Climatogy

According to eclipsophile.com, for the South East Asian countries, the increasing southeasterly track of the Moon’s shadow takes it deep into equatorial moisture and the extensive cloudiness.  The centreline trace of monthly cloudiness in figure above shows values of over 75% in Sri Lanka, a value that increases a further 10% by the peninsula of North Sumatera (Sumatra).  At Singapore, where totality occurs at noon, satellite measurements of cloud cover reach 95%, a value that seems far too high in view of the approximately 33 percent of possible sunshine at most stations shown in table below.

However, the surface-based cloud observations are in close agreement, with no observations at all of clear skies and a 93-100% frequency of broken and overcast skies at most of the stations. This is a very cloudy region of the globe, especially in the afternoon.

“Ring of Fire” eclipse expedition to Kuching from BSB, Brunei

Bruneian eclipse chasers who are interested to join our expedition to watch the spectacular Ring of Fire from Kuching, Borneo, can register and join our WhatsApp discussion via www.bruneiastronomy.org/expedition

This is a must for eclipse chasers as the next annular solar eclipse to take place from Borneo will not happen until 21 May 2031!

2008 Aug 17 – Members of the public assembled at the parking lot of the Survey Department in Berakas to observe the partial lunar eclipse. This observation was coordinated by the Astronomy Unit of the Survey Department.

A successful observation of lunar eclipse was held on early Sunday morning, August 17, 2008 at the parking lot of the Survey Department, Berakas. About 100 astronomy enthusiasts gathered to observe the phenomenon. This observation was coordinated by the Astronomy Unit of the Survey Department.

Above: A photographic sequence of a partial lunar eclipse on August 17, 2008 taken at the first contact, when the moon just touches the umbra at 3:35 am, until maximum eclipse at 5:10 am from Bandar Seri Begawan. During the eclipse, the bright full moon slowly moves into the umbral shadow of the Earth producing a dark arched “bite” out of the edge of the moon. The next lunar eclipse visible from Brunei is predicted on January 1, 2010. Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam.

“One of the most beautiful sights during a partial eclipse of the moon on August 17, 2008 from Kampong Kiarong. The moon is in a partial egress stage and it is about to set at 6:20 am” Pg Shahdani bin Pg Anom.

“An interesting celestial phenomenon, the partial eclipse of the moon, is clearly visible near the horizon at around 6:00 am from Kampong Bukit Panggal, Tutong” Mr Teo Kui Sheng

“Photo was taken at one million barrel Seria around 3am-5am” Brunei Times – Jefrisalas

We believe that many of Bruneians out there recently have enjoyed the spectacular partial lunar eclipse on early Sunday morning, August 17, 2008. In fact, you are so lucky to witness the event as this country had one of the best viewing conditions around this region.

If you have captured it on your mobile phones, digi-camera or even with your PSP, this society would love to have them share in this website”s gallery.

Simply sumbit your photos via email: pabd@bruneiastronomy.org Kindly, please include your name, location and some quotes from you on the photos. Or you may provide the url link to your photos if you have posted it on the web.