People in Thai South to witness solar eclipse most clearly

SONGKHLA, THAILAND, March 8 (TNA) - A senior academic says that people in the Thai South should witness the solar eclipse on March 9 most clearly, compared with those in all other Thai regions, although all people in the country can only observe Wednesday's solar eclipse partially. Chalermchon Wanthong, a lecturer of the Physics and General Science Program of Songkhla Rajabhat University and Acting Director of the National Observatory for the Public in Songkhla, told journalists of the information, noting that Songkhla is a province where people can witness Wednesday's solar eclipse clearly, as the Sun rises past the horizon there with nothing in the way. Chalermchon acknowledged if the weather is good with clear sky, the solar eclipse should be clearly observed from 6:28am to 8:30am and the Sun should be most shadowed by the Moon, or about 64 per cent, at 7:26am, while people in other areas in the country should observe only 40 per cent. The senior lecturer stressed that the astronomical phenomenon must not be witnessed with naked eyes or through any sunglasses or camera lens, but must be observed through special eclipse observation equipment only; otherwise, people are at risk of becoming a permanent blindness. According to the senior academic, the National Observatory for the Public in Songkhla and astronomers from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) have prepared personnel and telescopes for the general public to view Wednesday's partial solar eclipse on the Simila Beach. In Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in the Upper Thai South, Pimra Nuchjaroen, Head of the Academic for the Astronomical Activity Section at the King Mongkut Memorial Science Park in Wa Kor, told reporters that people across Thailand could view the partial solar eclipse from 6:20-8:40am (Thailand's time), with those in the southernmost Yala Province being able to watch the Sun being shadowed the most at about 69 per cent. Pimra note that an exhibition and various knowledge-based media on astronomy are also organised for international visitors. The King Mongkut Memorial Park of Science at Wa Kor is a historic place of science in Thailand, as King Mongkut, or King Rama IV, had made a precise calculation and prediction two years in advance that a total solar eclipse would occur at Wa Kor. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has given the name “King Mongkut Memorial Park of Science and Technology at Wa Kor" to honor King Mongkut, who is praised the Father of Thai Science. (TNA)