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Thousands of people gathered this Monday in the Chilean region of La Araucanía to witness the only total solar eclipse of the year, rejoicing in the rare experience even though visibility was limited due to the cloudy sky. The sky was clear in northern Patagonia in Argentina, where people also watched as the moon briefly blocked the sun and dipped into darkness during the day.
Natacha Pisarenko / AP
Many people wore masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, although they crowded together in some places in Pucón and in other areas of La Araucanía, 430 miles south of Santiago, the Chilean capital.
“It was worth the two minutes,” said witness Diego Fuentes, who traveled south with his family to watch the eclipse.
Natacha Pisarenko / AP
“I liked it a lot and it was good that there were clouds because we could see it a bit without glasses,” said Catalina Morales, a girl who saw the eclipse with her father, Cristián Morales. He described it as “spectacular, a unique experience”.
Thousands jumped and screamed happily in the drizzle when the sun was completely covered by the moon and then silence descended for a few moments. People screamed and howled with excitement again when the sun appeared again.
STRINGER / REUTERS
During the brief period of darkness, only the lights of cell phones were visible.
About 500,000 indigenous people of the Mapuche ethnic group live in La Araucanía. Traditionally they believe that the eclipse indicates the momentary death of the sun after a fight with the moon and leads to negative radioactive fallout.
Photo by MARIO QUILODRAN / AFP via Getty Images
Diego Ancalao, a member of a Mapuche community and head of an indigenous foundation that promotes development, noted that a total solar eclipse in July 2019 was followed by civil unrest in Chile and then by the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts said the solar eclipse was partially visible in several other Latin American countries, as well as parts of Africa and areas of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The next total solar eclipse in Chile is expected to occur in 28 years. Another is expected to be visible in Antarctica in late 2021.
