A total solar eclipse is a rare and brief moment when the moon covers the full face of the sun, draws millions of tourists with its spectacular site. When a total eclipse occurs, the sky could get mostly dark, like how the nights are. However, the warm tones of the sunset are visible in a ring spreading 360 degrees around the horizon. The air temperature though noticeably drops. Bright stars and planets would get visible in the day sky above.
This time, Antarctica will become even more charming on Dec 4, 2021, when the year’s only total solar eclipse shuts down the daylight in December 2021, won’t have the chance to see another total solar eclipse until 2023.
You have to travel to see a total solar eclipse. The full effect is only visible when you put yourself in the path that leads you to a narrow ribbon on Earth’s surface where the moon and sun line up flawlessly.
On Dec. 4, 2021, this eclipse stretches along one of the most like and available tourist tracks in Antarctica. North of the South Orkney Islands, down along the Weddell Sea, across the Antarctic Peninsula, and over Union Glacier, is where you could see this rare phenomenon. The low-hanging eclipse location, just eight degrees above the southeast horizon, promises stunning scenery, with icebergs in the foreground and a mesmerizing total solar eclipse behind.
Eclipse followers can also capture it along the path’s fringes, in the southernmost stretches of Africa, near Cape Town, South Africa, and Swakopmund in Namibia. However, at these viewpoints, they can see only a partial eclipse the morning of Dec. 4, 2021, as well.
Of course, perfectionists know nothing passes the splendor of a true total solar eclipse. After 2021, these eclipse enthusiasts will have to wait, because Earth is on total solar eclipse hiatus until April 20, 2023. Then, a hybrid solar eclipse an eclipse alternating between a total eclipse and annular eclipse will travel above Australia and Asia.