(From left) Zonneveld, Mila Appelman from Holland and Baum putting on their protective eclipse glasses during the event.
SERIAN: Folk who turned up for the annular solar eclipse at Serian Piazza yesterday agreed that it was a memorable Boxing Day that they can tell to others in the years to come.
Soon (left) with his family.
The eclipse started with the first contact at 11.49am and ended at 3.34pm, with the peak at 1.46pm to 1.50pm when the ‘ring of fire’ emerged.
Sophia Bong, 19, a student, came to Serian Piazza with her cousins and aunt for the public viewing hosted by the Sultan Iskandar Planetarium.
This is her second live viewing of the eclipse but she did not have much recollection of the first one because she was very young then.
“The first time I saw the solar eclipse was when I was in Primary 3. I do not have much memory of it, so today I brought my family together to watch it again,” said Bong, who is from Serian.
Dr Oriah and her grandchildren come all the way from Samarahan to witness the eclipse.
She added that the piazza was the most strategic place to watch it; hence she called her cousins up to go with her.
She said the programme was very informative as there was a booth and talk about it before the eclipse.
For Eric Jilui, 42, self employed, it was the first time he came out to witness it.
He brought along his 13-year-old son because it was a historic event, as the next one would only occur 22 years later.
“I feel very excited. The previous ones I only saw on TV and newspapers. Today is Boxing Day and I’m not working so it’s perfect time.”
Retired lecturer Dr Oriah Akir, 60, brought her husband and three grandchildren to share the memory together.
They came a day earlier and put up in a hotel for one night to make it more convenient for them to walk to the viewing venue.
She said it was to expose them to this rare phenomenon for them to remember in the years to come.
“The previous one, I saw from outside my house. This is the first time I go out to purposely watch it with the public.”
“I feel that it is fun and educational for the children and maybe get them interested in science, solar system in particular.”
For three best friends – two from Holland and one from New York City, United States – they made preparation to witness the annular solar eclipse in Serian since a year ago and they were thrilled when the first contact of the eclipse appeared.
Thom van Zonneveld said he was very happy for making it to the event – being their first trip to Sarawak – and he hoped there would not be too much cloud that might block their view of the rare annular solar eclipse that was taking place.
“This man (Zonneveld), he was planning to come here since a year ago and he came to Kuching and Serian, specifically to witness the annular solar eclipse,” said Ory Baum from New York City, acknowledging that Serian is a beautiful place with its friendly people.
They got their wish when there was no cloud blocking their view during the peak.
They went home with happy memory of experiencing the short darkness and drop in temperature during the ‘ring of fire’.
Meanwhile, Soon Wei Kang, 9, got his wish of personally watching a solar eclipse.
He said he previously watched them on YouTube.
“It’s my first time seeing it. It is different from reading about it or watching it on video. It was quite a weird feeling when it suddenly became dark and the temperature became cooler.”
He was accompanied by his mum, aunt and two cousins.
It was a well planned event as the public were given proper glasses to view the eclipse.
There was also educational booth and safety talk prior to the eclipse to inform the public on the do’s and don’ts.
The public started arriving at the piazza from as early as 9am.
There were several telescopes with appropriate filters for the public to take a look at the eclipse.
Bong (second left), her aunt and cousins holding up their glasses at the piazza.
There was also live streaming on the Agensi Angkasa Facebook page for those who could not make it here personally.
Eric and son waiting excitedly for the peak of the eclipse.