While People Watched 2019's Last Solar Eclipse, Malaysians Were Busy Balancing Eggs On Street
A Malaysian man filmed several eggs standing on end on a stone pavement and on the road after remembering that a friend has once told him about the theory. According to a study the idea that an egg could balance on this day comes from the thought that since the sun and the moon are equidistant from the earth the pull of gravity is equalised and therefore an egg is less likely to fall over. Dr Chong Hon Yew a retired physicist from the Malaysian S...Read More
While India and some parts of Asia put their special glasses on to see the last solar eclipse of 2019, people in Malaysia were busy balancing eggs on the street.
According to a popular scientific theory, an egg will support itself that way when the moon obscures the sun and during the spring equinox, due to increased gravity.
Reuters
According to a study, the idea that an egg could balance on this day comes from the thought that since the sun and the moon are equidistant from the earth, the pull of gravity is equalised and therefore an egg is less likely to fall over.
I¡¯m glad that I can watch it today #solareclipse2019. Such a waste if you didn¡¯t try standing the egg ? while the solar eclipse happen.
¡ª Mat Serah (@MaMoZa7) December 26, 2019
Gua punya telur berdiri bhai pic.twitter.com/AmkYUL7mlb
The theory might not hold water but that did not stop Malaysian and Indonesian citizens from putting it to the test on Thursday, as thousands of skywatchers gathered across parts of Asia to witness a rare annular solar eclipse.
Hakeem Maarof, a Malaysian man and father of two, filmed several eggs standing on end on a stone pavement and on the road after remembering that a friend has once told him about the theory. ¡°It¡¯s more of an experiment for my kids,¡± Hakeem, who posted the footage of Facebook, told Reuters.
Dr Chong Hon Yew, a retired physicist from the Malaysian Science University, said there was no evidence to back up the theory. ¡°You can do the same experiment tomorrow, before or after the eclipse ¨C it¡¯s easy to do it,¡± Chong said. ¡°But it¡¯s a fun trick to do (during an eclipse) to get young kids interested in science and astronomy.¡±
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon covers the sun completely creating a ¡°ring of fire.¡± It reached its peak around 9:30 am when the moon was fully in front of the sun forming a 'ring of fire' for about three minutes. The entire eclipse lasted for around two hours.
