JAKARTA – Social media has recently been enlivened with news that Earth will experience total darkness for 6 minutes on August 2 due to a total solar eclipse.
This news spread widely through short videos, uploading pictures, and chain messages on WhatsApp, triggering curiosity and concern among the public.
However, is it true that this phenomenon will occur on August 2, 2025? The following are the facts that were confiscated from the page of The Mirror US, Saturday, July 26.
There is no solar eclipse, either total, ring, or partly that will occur on August 2, 2025. The information that went viral on social media turned out to be wrong and actually referred to the prediction of a total solar eclipse that would occur two years later, namely on August 2, 2027.
Citing data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) entitled “Eclipse Predictions”, no solar eclipse events are scheduled for 2025. The total solar eclipse in question will occur on August 2, 2027, and is considered one of the most spectacular astronomical events of a century.
The eclipse will last for 6 minutes 23 seconds, making it the longest total solar eclipse from 1991 to 2114. The phenomenon will also only be seen in South Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, including countries, such as Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
The city of Luxor in Egypt is predicted to be the best location to witness the total darkness with a maximum duration. The 2027 total solar eclipse has some uniqueness as follows.
The total duration of 6 minutes 23 seconds is much longer than the average total eclipse which usually lasts less than three minutes.
At the time, Earth was at the aphelion (the furthest point from the Sun), making the Sun look smaller, while the Moon was at perigee (the closest point to Earth), making it appear bigger. This combination extends the duration of the darkness.
The Moon’s shadow, about 258 kilometers wide, will cross three continents, giving millions of people the opportunity to witness the phenomenon.
Unfortunately, Indonesia is not included in the totality path of the 2027 solar eclipse. According to NASA, Indonesia will only experience a partial solar eclipse with a small coverage, so there will be no total darkness like at night. Indonesian people can witness this phenomenon online through live broadcasts from the totality area.
The news of Earth’s total darkness on August 2, 2025 due to a solar eclipse is a hoax. The total phenomenon of the solar eclipse will actually occur on August 2, 2027, and can only be seen in certain areas, such as Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Indonesia will only experience partial eclipses, not total darkness.
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