Thousands of people turned their heads to the sky to see a solar eclipse that lasted about two minutes on Monday as southern Chile and Argentina were plunged into darkness.
Heavy rains had threatened to prevent Chilean star observers from seeing the eclipse, but at the last moment the clouds parted enough for the phenomenon to be partially visible.
“It was beautiful, unique. The truth is that no one had much hope of seeing it because of the weather and the clouds, but it was unique because it cleared up just in time. It was a miracle,” said an excited Matias Tordecilla, 18, told AFP in the town of Pucon, on the shores of Lake Villarrica.
“It’s something you not only see with your eyes, but you also feel with your heart,” added Tordecilla, who traveled 10 hours with his family to see the eclipse.
The eclipse seen in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 14, 2020. (Muhammed Emin Canik / Agencia Anadolu via AFP)
It was the second total eclipse in Chile in the last 18 months.
This one rang at 1:00 pm (1600 GMT) when thousands of tourists and residents gathered, waiting for the clouds to disappear in time.
“It gave me goosebumps everywhere,” said Pucon resident Cinthia Vega.
In Argentine Patagonia, several families and foreigners had set up camp between the cities of Villa El Chocon and Piedra del Aguila in hopes of seeing the eclipse.
The arm of a statue is seen as a solar eclipse occurs in Santiago de Chile on December 14, 2020. (Cristobal Saavedra Vogel / Anadolu Agency through AFP)
Although there was no rain, strong winds had threatened to affect visibility.
Despite COVID-19 traffic restrictions, nearly 300,000 tourists had arrived in the Araucania region about 800 kilometers south of the capital Santiago.
Dozens of amateur and professional scientists installed telescopes on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano – one of the most active in Chile – to observe the phenomenon when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth.
The total solar eclipse seen from Pucon, southern Chile, on December 14, 2020. (Martin Bernetti / AFP)
The eclipse was to be visible along a 90-kilometer-wide corridor from the Pacific coast to Chile across the Andes to Argentina.
In July 2019, some 300,000 people attended the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, where there were several observatories, to see the previous eclipse.
Battle with the force of evil
Chilean authorities were concerned that the eclipse would attract large gatherings of people.
There have been more than 570,000 cases of coronavirus among the population of 18 million and nearly 16,000 confirmed deaths.
Strict controls were announced for areas where the total eclipse would be visible, with free movement prohibited both the day before and the day after.
This event was eagerly awaited among the Mapuche indigenous community of Chile, the largest group in the south of the country.
An indigenous Mapuche family observes the eclipse in Carahue, southern Chile. (Mario Quilodran / AFP)
“Today we were all looking forward to a sunny day, but nature has given us rain and at the same time it gives us something we need,” Estela Nahuelpan, leader of the Mateo Nahuelpan community in the southern city of Carahue, told AFP.
“In Mapuche culture, the eclipse has different meanings: they talk about‘ Lan Antu, ’like the death of the Sun and the conflict between the Moon and the Sun,” he said.
“It refers to the necessary balance that must exist in nature.”
In another tradition, an eclipse means the temporary death of the Sun during a battle between the star and an evil force known as “Wekufu”.
Indigenous people worshiped the Sun “as a God,” astronomer Jose Maza told AFP last week.
According to indigenous expert Juan Nanculef, people would light bonfires and throw “stones and arrows into the air” to help the Sun in its battle against the Wekufu.
Nanculef actually performed a ritual when the eclipse began to ask nature to end the rains and make it visible.
“Previously it was 100% effective,” he said.
This time it seems to have worked well enough to give people a look at the eclipse.
© France-Presse Agency