Eight South Sumatran Cities to Witness Total Solar Eclipse

Palembang, S Sumatra, March 3 (Antara)- A total solar eclipse will be visible in eight cities of South Sumatra on March 9 this year. Palembang, Lubuklinggau, Rupit, Muarabeliti, Talang Ubi, Sekayu, Pangkalanbalai, and Indralaya are the cities where the total solar eclipse will be visible, Indra Purnama, spokesman of the Kenten climatology office, stated here on Thursday. Purnama has forecast clear weather during the course of the eclipse. However, he cautioned the people to use appropriate eye glasses while viewing the natural phenomenon, which can be harmful if watched with the naked eye. Chairman of the South Sumatra Association of Hotel and Restaurant Businessmen (PHRI) Herlan Aspiudin stated that several hotel rooms in Palembang had been booked by tourists from 12 countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States. In the meantime, the Palu meteorology office said that in Central Sulawesi, the total solar eclipse will be visible in Palu, Donggala, Parigi Moutong, Poso, Ampana, and Luwuk. The office's spokesman, Petrus Demon Sili, noted that several scientists from the National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), among others, would conduct scientific studies on the rare natural phenomenon in Central Sulawesi. He has, however, forecast partly cloudy skies in Palu in the morning of March 9. Central Sulawesi is expecting at least 10 thousand foreign tourists to arrive for the eclipse. Nationally, the total solar eclipse will be visible for around two to three minutes in 45 cities and districts in 12 provinces. These 12 Indonesian provinces are Bengkulu, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Jambi, Bangka Belitung, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and North Maluku. It is believed that the next total solar eclipse will only be visible after 100 years, though some say in the next 350 years. ***4***