Chilean clouds, coronavirus mar outlook for solar eclipse sightseers
Published December 15, 2020 3:57am
A bird is seen next to a solar eclipse, visible in parts of Chile, Argentina and Brazil, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, December 14, 2020. REUTERS/Diego Vara
SANTIAGO, Chile - Tourists in central Chile hoping to experience a total solar eclipse faced disappointment on Monday as thick fog rolled in along the coastline and rain clouds obscured the sky.
More than 100,000 tourists had traveled to the lakeside villages of Pucon and Villarica, despite a recent uptick in cases of COVID-19 in Chile, according to official reports.
The moon is due to completely cover the sun across a narrow, 56 mile (90 km) band of South America, stretching from Saavedra, a central Chilean Pacific port town to Salina del Eje on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows.