Hong Kong to see solar eclipse on Jan. 15

HONG KONG, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- An annular solar eclipse will occur on Jan. 15, but it will be visible in Hong Kong only as a partial eclipse, according to Hong Kong Observatory on Monday.

The partial eclipse will begin at about 3.33 p.m., reach its maximum at 4.54 p.m. and end around 6 p.m. Hong Kong time, when the sun and the moon descend below the horizon in succession.

This partial eclipse has a magnitude of 0.674, meaning 67.4 percent of the sun's diameter will be obscured by the moon at maximum eclipse.

Air temperature and ambient luminosity may fall slightly during the eclipse, but this will have little effect on daily activities.

A webcast of this event will be jointly provided by Hong Kong Observatory and Hong Kong Space Museum by the time.

The next solar eclipse visible in Hong Kong will be on May 21, 2012. It will be an annular eclipse with a magnitude of 0.945.