Solar Eclipse for Monday, 14 December 2020 in South Africa

There will be a solar eclipse on Monday, 14 December 2020. The eclipse will not be visible in northern part of South Africa, Pretoria and Johannesburg but will be visible from Bloemfontein to the South of the country including Cape Town. According to NASA, the following guidelines must be adhered to:

  • Do not look directly at the sun
  • Do not use homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark sunglasses
  • Use special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers, to view the eclipse
  • Read and follow filter instructions and supervise children
  • In any stage of eclipse, do not look at the sun through a camera, telescope, binoculars or other optical device, and never use solar filters with these devices, as concentrated solar rays will damage them and can cause serious eye injury
  • Inspect your solar filter before use; if it is scratched or damaged, discard the filter
  • Pinhole projection is a safe way to view the sun in indirect fashion; Exploratorium provides instruction on “How to Build a Sun Viewer” and other methods of safely viewing the sun

Pinhole projection:

Get two A4 papers or any size of papers

Pin a hole in one paper

Place the other paper on the floor or hold it below the other paper

Point the sun rays through the pin hole to the paper below

You should be able to watch the whole eclipse from beginning to end

When the Eclipse Happens Worldwide — Timeline

The eclipse starts at one location and ends at another. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the eclipse occurs.

Event

UTC Time

Time in Pretoria*

First location to see the partial eclipse begin

14 Dec, 13:33:55

14 Dec, 15:33:55

First location to see the full eclipse begin

14 Dec, 14:32:34

14 Dec, 16:32:34

Maximum Eclipse

14 Dec, 16:13:28

14 Dec, 18:13:28

Last location to see the full eclipse end

14 Dec, 17:54:18

14 Dec, 19:54:18

Last location to see the partial eclipse end

14 Dec, 18:53:03

14 Dec, 20:53:03

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. Please note that the local times for Pretoria are meant as a guideline in case you want to view the eclipse via a live webcam. They do not mean that the eclipse is necessarily visible there.

Sources: