Chinese Lanterns & The Long Solar Eclipse
The longest solar eclipse of the century took place today over large parts of Asia and China. The eclipse, at it’s fullest point, lasted six minutes and 39 seconds. Now this got us thinking about our chinese lanterns…
From the reports in the media it sounded as though this eclipse was a pretty spectacular event, with literally millions of people gathering to watch the Sun be blocked by the Moon. Throughout Asia it was possible to see, at the very least, a partial eclipse.
Unfortunately the one area that was dubbed beforehand as the best place to see the event suffered from overcast weather, so only half of the eclipse was visible from the ground. This led to a few disappointed onlookers who had specifically traveled to the village of Taregna for the unique event.
One group of enthusiasts who were certainly not disappointed had gone to the lengths of booking a specially chartered flight to get the best possible view. One BBC reporter was on the flight and described it as ‘an emotional and breathtaking experience’. A number of religious beliefs surround a solar eclipse, including varying ideas about it bringing good or bad luck. Thousands of people gathered at the banks of the Ganges to wet themselves in the Holy water during the eclipse, as it is meant to be auspicious.
We hope here at wishlantern.com that someone had the mind to release some sky lanterns during the eclipse, it would certainly be an amazing sight seeing them let off just before the sun was completely covered, and then seeing the illuminate the dark sky.
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