This Saturday, April 30, the first solar eclipse of the year takes place, baptized Luna Negra.
We explain what it is, where and how to see it.
What is a solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is located between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the planet that partially or totally blocks the light of the star, according to NASA.
During a partial eclipse like this Saturday, the Moon and the Sun are not perfectly aligned, so the satellite does not completely cover the star.
This gives the Sun a crescent shape, or makes it look like the Sun has been taken a bite out, depending on how much of the star is covered by the Moon.
[So You Can See the Longest Near-Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight]
This time, the Moon's shadow that would cause a total eclipse will pass completely past Earth, about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) below the South Pole.
But the penumbra will touch a part of the southern hemisphere, where the partial eclipse can be experienced.
Why is it called Black Moon?
Black Moon is how the second new moon in the same month is known, something that occurs approximately every 32 months.
The second full moon in a month is called the Blue Moon.
Where you can see
At sunset on April 30, the Sun will appear partially eclipsed to those with clear skies in the extreme south of South America: in Chile, Argentina, most of Uruguay, western Paraguay, southwestern Bolivia, southeastern Peru and a small area of southwestern Brazil.
Chilean and American scientists observing a solar eclipse from the Union Glacier in Antarctica on December 4, 2021. Felipe Trueba / Image Chile/AFP via Getty Image
The eclipse will also be visible in parts of the northwestern coast of Antarctica, in the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern coast of South America, including the Falkland Islands, and in much of the South Pacific and Southern Oceans.
Spectacular solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere leaves part of Antarctica in the dark
Dec 5, 202100:23
How to safely view the eclipse
It is never safe to look directly at the Sun without a powerful filter to protect your eyes, even if it is mostly or partially obscured.
To watch a partial solar eclipse,
you must wear solar viewing or eclipse glasses
if you want to look at the Sun, according to NASA.
Solar viewing or eclipse
glasses are not regular sunglasses
: they are not safe to look at the Sun, and can damage your eyes.
If you don't have solar or eclipse viewing glasses, you can use an indirect method, such as a pinhole projector.
They should not be used to look directly at the Sun, but to project sunlight onto a surface (see how to create a pinhole viewer).
what time to see it
According to the astronomical website Space, the eclipse will begin in Santiago de Chile at 4:32 in the afternoon and will pass at 5:12 in Asunción, in Paraguay;
at 5:38 to La Paz, in Bolivia;
at 5:42 to Buenos Aires, in Argentina;
and at 5:43 to Montevideo, in Uruguay (all these times are from the East Coast of the United States).