Hey there,
So if you were in Singapore on the 26th December 2019, you probably heard about the Annular Solar Eclipse. Just in case you haven’t, we’re familiar with the “solar eclipse”, which is the phenomenon where the moon moves into the path of the sun partially or completely, momentarily blocking the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth. The “annular solar eclipse” simply denotes the special case in which the moon is at the furthest point from the Earth, making it unable to block out the sun’s rays entirely, unlike in a total solar eclipse. This leads to the phenomenon known as the “Ring of Fire”, in which the outline of the sun is just visible from behind the moon. The word Annular in Annular Solar Eclipse thus refers to the “ring-shape” formed during this phenomenon
I am not immune to FOMO (fear of missing out), aka kiasu, just like all my fellow Singaporeans
If you were lucky, you heard about it before it happened, and if you weren’t so lucky, you learnt about it only after everyone started talking about it on social media, accompanied by mildly grainy pictures of a black blob surrounded by a bright ring.
Now I may sound like a cynic, and I guess I was at the time. What changed was a reminder from my mum that morning, after handing me an old solar eclipse viewer. Out of kiasu-ness, I took it before heading to my friend’s place for what was supposed to be a lazy day in. On the way there, I felt super FOMO and decided to look up facts about the eclipse on my phone.
The next annular solar eclipse visible in Singapore will only happen in 43 years time in 2063
After reading headline after headline about this “once-in-a-lifetime” event, I just couldn’t let the opportunity slip by to witness it for myself. While I relayed the plan to my friend, I was aware that I wasn’t entirely convinced that we should make the trip down to one of the viewing events just to watch a big rock floating in space pass in front of a bigger rock which happens to be on fire. Despite my hesitation, we still decided to go in the end.
After hanging around at my friend’s place and catching up on Sky Castle, we decided to leave the house around 11.45am, which was about 15 minutes into the eclipse. Standing in the corridor of the housing block, I looked through the sun filter to see the eclipse for the first time. Seeing the shadow of the moon cut into the orange glow of the sun made me incredibly excited. Standing there in the empty corridor, there was a sort of joy that I never thought I would experience from watching celestial bodies move across the sky.
The sun was up in a clear sky at noon but it felt as if someone had pulled a curtain over the world
Heading towards the viewing event at Jurong Lake Gardens after lunch, the moon inched forward towards the maximum eclipse at 1.22pm. As we walked, I would periodically look up at the sky and exclaim that the crescent was getting smaller and smaller. The air cooled slightly and our surroundings were getting darker. What was odd though, was that if you had glanced up at the sky, the sun would still be shining as brightly as it usually does.
When we reached the park, we joined a steady stream of visitors heading towards the PAssion Wave building where the main activities were being held. As we were about 10 minutes from the maximum eclipse, we decided to join some other visitors on the boardwalk for a clearer view of the eclipse. From the boardwalk, we could see groups of people dotted around the park. Families, lone photographers, packs of teenagers and even tourists.
The Ring of Fire
We were away from the crowd at the time but right when the clock struck 1.22pm, it seemed almost as if the whole country was holding its breath. The waters of the lake were still and for 2 whole minutes, everyone in the park was simply engaged in watching the shadow pass in front of the sun. The ring of fire lasted for barely a minute and unlike before noon, the movement of the shadow at this point was much more noticeable.
At 1.24pm, the shadow began its exit from its path in front of the glowing orb of light. People in the park started to buzz with the excitement of witnessing the event first hand. For some, their attention was quickly redirected to a monitor lizard which had left the water and come onto land. Cameras quickly pivoting to the ground to capture the creature caught like a deer in the headlights.
A big rock blocking the light of a bigger flaming rock makes for great marketing material
After watching the sun for a while more, we finally made our way to the PAssion Wave building which was buzzing with activity. There, a projector was streaming a live screening of the solar eclipse, a booth was giving out free solar glasses to registrants and sign-ups were open for activities like Kayaking and watercolour painting. Kids were queuing up for free popcorn and on the ground floor and an Old Chang Kee food truck was serving up local snacks for hungry observers. There were so many more people in the park than would normally have been on what would usually be a sweltering midday. Using the eclipse as a reason to get people outdoors and into the parks to try the new facilities was a great marketing strategy.
Technology may appear to isolate us, but it also has the power to unite us
At the end of the day, Instagram was blowing up with stories and posts about the eclipse. The next day, The Straits Times featured this picture of residents in Ang Mo Kio training their “digital eyes” on the sky to capture the moment in time: 26th Decemeber 2019, 1.22pm. At Jurong Lake Gardens, I was not immune. I tried and failed to capture the image of the maximum eclipse, as precious seconds slipped away. In the end though, I think it’s ok to want to capture these things on social media as it is simply a part of our modern lives. This urge stems not from wanting to boast and gloat but to share the things that amaze us, awe us and move us with our loved ones.
As smartphones become ubiquitous, we may despair at how people are no longer truly experiencing the world around them and are merely doing so through the lens of others. While that may be true to a certain extent, my friend , T-Rex mentioned that these people probably wouldn’t be here if smartphones didn’t exist. And he’s right. The only reason why I knew about the event at all was through the accessibility of information afforded by the internet. Something he mentioned stuck with me, which is that “Smartphones used to be a very interesting thing by itself, where people would be fascinated by the device and could be glued to it as well. Now that it’s so common, people are using smartphones more as a tool to find out about the world around them and go out to experience it for themselves.”
A cosmic event is a way to create a rare moment of connection
My biggest takeaway from the experience is that we are constantly looking for ways to connect with others. Whether it be through a screen or in real life, we want to feel that other people can see what we see and feel what we feel. It’s this connection with others that leads to the strong bonds between family members, in romantic relationships and between friends.
We are always searching for that moment where, just for a split second, you and the person next to you truly understand each other. This is why people still go to movies or travel together. This eclipse was just a really scaled up version of those kinds of activities. Where for 2 minutes, thousands of people all see the same thing you see and even possibly feel the same way you feel, even if we don’t all understand why we feel this way about bits of rock floating around in space.
And these are all the things I learnt watching the annular solar eclipse.
Have a good day everyone
❤
Jaime IRL 