Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted a total solar eclipse that will occur on May 9-10, 2013.

The total solar eclipse can be seen from the Pacific Ocean, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia except northern Sumatra and the southern Philippines, according to BMKG`s statement on its official website here, Friday.

The total eclipse will occur in Australia and the Pacific, while partial solar eclipse will be seen in Indonesia except North Sumatra on May 10, 2013 in the morning.

Indonesia, the solar eclipse can be seen in Kupang, Manado, Ternate, Ambon, Sorong, Manokwari, Merauke and Jayapura. Except for Kupang and Manado, people in the six other regions would be fortunate as they would be able to witness the total eclipse peak until the eclipse ends.

The peak of the eclipse can also be seen in Surabaya, Pontianak, Palangkaraya, Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Denpasar, Mataram, Kupang, Manado, Kendari, Palu, Makassar.

The eclipse end phase could be seen in Padang, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Bengkulu, Palembang, Bandar Lampung, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Pontianak, Palangkaraya, Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Denpasar, Mataram, Kupang, Manado, Kendari, Palu, and Makassar.

Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks ("occults") the Sun. This can happen only at new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth in an alignment referred to as syzygy, which can be predicted earlier.

Five eclipses are predicted to occur in 2013, two solar eclipses and three lunar eclipses.

(A050/F001)

Reporter: Desi Purnamawati
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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