Total Solar Eclipse Sunday—Most Remote of the Century?
Eclipse visible to a lucky few on Pacific isles such as Easter Island.
As it crosses the Pacific, the total solar eclipse will also darken a handful of remote South Pacific islands, including Easter Island (Isla de Pascua)—about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) west of Chile. (See a picture of stars over the moai, the famous stone statues of Easter Island.)
(Watch video: "Solar Eclipse to Darken Easter Island.")
The eclipse will last the longest—5 minutes, 20 seconds—over open Pacific waters at 3:33 p.m. ET.
"Since much of the pathway is over open ocean, this will be one of the least observed eclipses ever," said eclipse expert and National Geographic grantee Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor at Williams College in Massachusetts. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
Eclipse chaser and astronomer Alan
