Luxor to witness total solar eclipse in 2027

CAIRO – 21 August 2017: Egypt will witness a total solar eclipse in 2027, said professor Mohamed Gharib to Egypt Today on Monday. Gharib, who is a professor at the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research in Egypt, also said that the eclipse will be observed in Luxor, a city that is famous for solar alignments.

The astronomy professor explained that the total eclipse crossing the entire U.S. on Monday will not occur in Egypt nor in the Arab region. He further explained that a similar total eclipse occurred in the Egyptian village Sallum in 2006.


Diagram showing the Earth-sun-moon geometry of a total solar eclipse – Photo credit NASA

According to NASA, an eclipse takes place when one heavenly body such as a moon or planet moves into the shadow of another heavenly body. There are two types of eclipses on Earth: an eclipse of the moon and an eclipse of the sun.

A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves between the sun and Earth. The moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching Earth, which leads to an eclipse of the sun, or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow over Earth.

A total solar eclipse is only visible from a small area on Earth. The people who see the total eclipse are in the center of the moon’s shadow when it hits Earth. The sky becomes very dark, as if it were night. For a total eclipse to take place, the sun, moon and Earth must be in a direct line.