There will be a total eclipse of the sun on March 9, 2016.
During the early hours of March 9th the new Moon will pass directly in front of the sun. The Moon’s shadow will lance down toward Earth, making landfall only on the islands of Indonesia before it races out onto the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Inside the Moon’s cool shadow, sky watchers can look up and see the sun’s ghostly corona, a mesmerizing sight.
Outside the narrow path of totality, the eclipse will be partial.
Observers all around the Pacific will be able to see a crescent-shaped sun in the sky casting crescent-shaped shadows on the ground below. In Hawaii, 60% to 70% of the sun will be covered, quite a bit more than the 20% coverage in Alaska. The Australian sun will be as much as 50% blocked.
This video is an awesome animated visibility map by Larry Koehn:
This is the last solar eclipse before the “Big One” on August 21, 2017, when the sun and Moon will line up again and the Moon’s shadow will cross the entire USA.
