December 4, 2002
By Sheree Russouw
AS the moon raced across the sun at 5 000km per hour on Wednesday morning, skygazers at the Johannesburg Planetarium termed the mood "weird and eerie". As they huddled together, peering at the sky through their eclipse viewers at the rare sight of the solar eclipse, the wind blew wildly and it started raining.
Patience, a drama student at Wits, agreed that the mood was eerie. "This is my first time at an eclipse. It feels pretty weird. The weather is so odd, and there is this strange wind. I just got a funny feeling. But it's really cool to see so many children here though. The schools closed yesterday and you wouldn't think that for their first day of holiday kids would come to the Planetarium but here they are."
It seems the children, their faces colourfully painted, had their own impressions of the eclipse. When six-year-old Cameron watched the eclipse through his viewers, he proclaimed that it looked "like half a cheese".
A trio of boys watch the eclipse
Despite the odd weather and the broody cloud cover that made viewing difficult, Joburgers saw 89 percent of the eclipse, according to Claire Flanagan, director and astronomer at the Planetarium.
Flanagan was determined that the dreaded eclipse monster was not going to get its chance to attack the sun. In ancient times, an eclipse was regarded as a bad omen and regarded with superstition and fear. In Asian countries, people beat drums to chase away the "evil dragon that followed the sun". And the Planetarium was not outdone: to ward off the monster was the energetic Gilbert Mashite Dance Theatre, a corps of young dancers who leapt off the ground, chanting and ululating to drumbeats to chase away the monster.
For Sam, a Morningside resident, Wednesday was the first time since childhood that she had gone to the Planetarium. Although she had nearly headed to Limpopo to watch the rare solar eclipse, she affirmed that that Johannesburg was the next best thing. "I'm having a ball."
A playlist of "eclipse music" was on hand to get spectators in the celestial mood. The bulk of it was fittingly from Pink Floyd's album, The Dark Side of the Moon - the band's song Eclipse was played on repeat. For the more contemporary skygazer, there was REM's Man on the Moon to entertain.
Linda Balme, a 25-year-old travel agent from Port Elizabeth, has watched eclipses in the UK and in South Africa. "This is the third time that I am watching an eclipse and it is awesome. I think Wits has put on an impressive show." Her friend Thembi Matshinye from Springs said it was exciting to get a glimpse of the rare solar eclipse, but the Planetarium show might have been better advertised. She'd found out only the day before.
Climatologist Valerie Worth said that even though there was not a large crowd, the interaction between people was tremendous. "I'd rather be here discussing the eclipse with people than viewing it on my own."
Does Joburg have the best eclipse viewing? Mbuyiseni Ngcobo, an education student from KwaZulu-Natal, thinks so. "I watched last year's eclipse and this year's eclipse from Johannesburg and they were wonderful sights. It's beautiful when it goes so dark when the sun emerges from the clouds. It looks so wonderful."
South Africa will experience its next partial eclipse next year, while a total eclipse is not expected until 2030.
