July 3, 2019

Andrew Campbell 

More than tens of thousands of tourists flew all the way to gather in one of the best spots in the northern Chile on June 2 to witness a rare astronomy phenomenon: total solar eclipse.

Solar eclipse happened rarely. It occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. This will block out the sunlight fully or partially. The total darkness of the planet will happen at that moment. 

The best location to spot the solar eclipse was at the coastal city of La Serena in the northern Chile of Atacama Desert this year. This city is in lack of lights and has less humidity to provide the clearest sky to witness the irresistible solar eclipse. 

The city of La Serena has around 200,000 people. Because of this heated activity, more than 300,000 tourists stayed in this city. The city has the advanced preparation to cope with the tourists, including enforcing the local water company to increase the output, to store the extra fuel in the gas station, and to reinforce the service of police and health.

One of the tourists, Stephanie Bouckurt from United States, mentioned that he was very excited to view this total eclipse because he came to La Serena based on his friend’s recommendation.

Northern Chile is famous for the clearest sky and some powerful telescopes were built in this area. These additional tools turn the South America into an astronomy center. 

The next total solar eclipse on the Earth will be 14 December 2020. It will cross Chile and Argentina but with a different path. 

Photo:Webshot.