Solar eclipse: Skies darken over Chile and Argentina as thousands turn out to watch rare total eclipse

Megan White3 July 2019

A solar eclipse darkened the skies over northern Chile.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to cities and towns across the region to witness the total eclipse, which began at 10.24am local time.

Chile and Argentina are the only places that the eclipse was seen aside from an uninhabited island out in the ocean.

Millions were expected to gaze at the cosmic spectacle that began in the South Pacific and swept along a path extending 6,800 miles across open waters to Chile and Argentina.

Solar eclipse 2019

1/14

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and scores a bull's-eye by completely blocking out the sunlight.

The eclipse made its first landfall in Chile at 3.22pm local time in La Serena, a city of some 200,000 people where the arrival of more than 300,000 visitors forced the local water company to increase output and service gas stations to store extra fuel.

Police and health services were also reinforced.

The rare eclipse was only visible from Argentina and Chile
AFP/Getty Images

Northern Chile is known for clear skies and some of the largest, most powerful telescopes on Earth are being built in the area, turning the South American country into a global astronomy hub.

Elyar Sedaghati, an astronomer working as a fellow at the European Southern Observatory in Paranal, Chile, said: “In the past 50 years we've only had two eclipses going over observatories.

“So one when it happens and an observatory lies in the path of totality, it really is special for us.

People prepare for a full solar eclipse at La Silla Observatory, in La Higuera, Coquimbo
EPA

"We can finally use our toys during the day because it's always at night that we use them."

The town of La Higuera will also be plunged into total darkness.

"We hope this milestone will transform our town into a tourist attraction, so that can come to La Higuera and take a picture where there once was a total sun eclipse," Mayor Yerko Galleguillos said.

Tourists wear special glasses ahead of a solar eclipse at La Silla European Southern Observatory
AFP/Getty Images

Town officials distributed more than 2,000 cardboard-frame protective eyeglasses at local schools and community centres while workers built statues of huge sunglasses and a darkened sun on a local square.

"It's going to be very dark and we're going to have a Milky Way in its full splendour," said Chilean astronomer Maria Teresa Ruiz. "I invite you to look at hundreds of thousands of stars."

Total eclipses are relatively rare for a particular spot.

In 2017, millions of people in the United States witnessed the phenomena, with a full solar eclipse visible in parts of 14 states and a partial eclipse seen in nearly the entire country.

It was the first such widespread eclipse in the US since 1918.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in