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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A partial solar eclipse will be viewable across the Kingdom on March 20 as the moon will pass in front of the Sun, the Crescents and Mawaqeet Committee (CMC) said Sunday.

The year's first solar eclipse will start at 11:18am and will last until 11:59am when 13 percent of the sun disk will be obstructed, before the moon begins to move away from the disk of the sun until the eclipse ends at 12:39 afternoon, CMC Rapporteur Emad Mjahed told Petra.

The Irbid governorate in the north will be one of the best places to spot the eclipse, as it will last for approximately 1:25 hours. The peak of the annular solar eclipse will be at 11:59am when 14 percent of the sun disk will be covered, elaborated the astronomer.

He cautioned people against directly staring at the Sun as it can cause damage to the retina. He also advised use of sunglasses or X-ray films to view the solar eclipse, noting that any prolonged exposure of the eyes to sunlight remains dangerous even when using these devices.

Solar eclipse is a type that occurs when the moon passes between the sun and earth, and fully or partially blocks 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. In a total eclipse, the disk of the sun is fully obscured by the moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the sun is obscured.