The Pyramids witnessing the Solar Eclipse

Written by : Sarah Mahmoud

On the 20th of March 2015, a solar eclipse took place and it was the last eclipse that would be visible from Egypt until the upcoming five years.

An eclipse is a complete or partial obscuring of a celestial body by another. An eclipse of the sun actually occurs when the moon passes across the face of the sun. It is considered a total eclipse when the light of the sun is completely blocked by the moon. But in a partial eclipse only part of the sun is darkened and obscured. It happens due to a cosmic coincidence, the Moon passes precisely between the Earth and the Sun and its shadow falls on Earth and moves over it.

In Egypt, the eclipse was partial and only part of the sun was covered. As eclipses have long been of interest, this wondrous and splendid sight has attracted the attention of the general public and media that an official event was organized -for the first time- in the Pyramids andthe Sphinx area to observe this fascinating phenomenon.

Egypt witnessed a maximum partial eclipse forthe sunthat reached 14.2% at 12:48 pm. . Professor Alaa Ibrahim, who is an Assistant Professor in Astrophysics, said that it was the first time in Egypt to monitor the solar eclipse in an official observation sponsored by the Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism. This event was open to tourists and general public. A number of university and school students participated in this event by guiding and giving people glasses to watch the eclipse through them. Additionally, press and media had a salient role in sharing the event. Several TV Stations aired the embracement of the Pyramids to the eclipse live