Wairarapa witnesses partial solar eclipse today

Wairarapa will get first contact of a partial solar eclipse this afternoon at 4.37pm with the Moon eventually covering 63 per cent of the Sun, says Stonehenge Aotearoa astronomer Richard Hall.
In Wairarapa the partial eclipse will reach this maximum at 5.44pm while last contact, when the Moon leaves the Sun, will happen at 6.45pm, he said.
A partial solar eclipse happens when the new Moon passes between the earth and the Sun, but does not completely block out the view of the Sun.
"There will be a big bite missing out of the edge of the Sun and as a result the Sun will look like a big, brilliant, crescent moon," Mr Hall said.
"People will notice that the sky will get gradually dimmer."
Mr Hall warns people to exercise caution when gazing at the partial eclipse.
"It will still be quite bright, the Sun's a very dangerous object to look at. People should not use optical aides like binoculars or telescopes if you used a telescope there is the risk that your retina would be incinerated.
"To look at the eclipse use a piece of dark glass or at least two pairs of dark Sunglasses," he said.
Another safe method of watching an eclipse is to project the Sun's image on to a screen, through a telescope or a pin-hole camera, to watch it in real-time like a movie.
"This is an annular eclipse and in other parts of the world people will see a what will look like a black disc with a ring of fire around it," Mr Hall said.
More than 3000km further south in parts of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, the Moon will pass across the centre of the Sun's face and almost but not completely cover it producing what astronomers call an "annular" eclipse.
The orbit of the Moon is a stretched circle called an ellipse, which sometimes makes the Moon closer making it appear larger in the sky other times it is further away making it appear slightly smaller.
An annular eclipse happens when the Moon is at its smaller size, a size that is not quite large enough to completely cover the Sun's face.
The uncovered portion of the Sun appears to be a bright ring, hence the name "annular" eclipse.
This differs from a total solar eclipse, which happens when the Sun's light is completely blocked by the Moon.
Mr Hall said in ancient times eclipses were regarded with apocalyptic terror.
"In ancient times these events were of monumental importance because people didn't know what was happening.
"They could see the Sun disappearing and because it was the source of light they may have thought it was the end of the world."
In Auckland the partial eclipse starts at 4.48pm when the Sun is half-way up the sky in the west and finishes about two hours later at 6.51pm.
At the time of maximum eclipse (5.52pm) 47 per cent of the Sun will be covered as seen from Auckland.
Maximum eclipse will occur in Christchurch at 5.37pm when the Moon will cover 53 per cent of the Sun's face.
The last decent partial solar eclipse was on August 22, 1998, and the next opportunity will not be until November 14, 2012.