Thousands of skywatchers and photographers on Easter Island cheered as a total solar eclipse darkened South Pacific skies for four precious minutes yesterday.
Easter Island, famed for the monumental "moai" statues built thousands of years ago by the Polynesian Rapa Nui culture, served as ground zero for the event, which was streamed across the world via the Internet.
The eclipse could be seen in person only along a narrow slice of the Southern Hemisphere. The spectacle began at sunrise as the moon's shadow swept across the South Pacific, darkening skies over the Cook Islands, Easter Island and parts of southern Chile and Argentina.
The time of greatest eclipse occurred over open water, lasting 5 minutes and 20 seconds so shooters had to be ready to go and ready to change their exposures as it was happening. Just how do you meter and predict an essentislly unpredictable light? "As you go!" Exclaimed an exhilerated Burt Manarcor of Chile.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. The moon blocks the light from the sun and casts a shadow on Earth.
Skywatchers can observe a solar eclipse safely while the moon totally obscures the sun. But scientists recommend that people wear special viewing glasses during the partial phase of a solar eclipse and avoid looking directly at the sun, if even just a tiny sliver of the solar disk is visible.
The next total solar eclipse will occur in November 2012 and will be visible from northern Australia and the South Pacific.
