GEORGE TOWN, Dec 26 — The annular solar eclipse today became an experience of a different kind for about 30 visually impaired people in Penang who gets to listen to the phenomenon at Tech Dome Penang.
Members from the Penang Branch of the Society for the Blind Malaysia and St Nicholas’ Home gathered at Tech Dome Penang in excitement to experience the solar eclipse for the first time today.
The solar eclipse started at about 11.15am and a high pitched sound transmitted from a LightSound device filled the room.
Tech Dome Penang Chief Executive Officer Khong Yoon Loong explained that the device converted light from the sun into the high-pitched sound.
“The sound will slowly change and go down to a lower pitch as the eclipse happens so the visually impaired can hear the difference in the sounds,” he said.
As the eclipse progressed to maximum eclipse at about 1pm, the sound changed and became a low muted tone before it slowly rise up to a higher pitch as the eclipse ends.
Society for the Blind Malaysia Penang Branch chairman Mohd Rodzi Ariffin said this was a different experience for the visually impaired.
He said for once, they get to observe a solar eclipse by listening to it.
“We’ve never seen the sun, much less a solar eclipse, this is almost a miraculous experience for us,” he said.
Tech Dome Penang is one of three official sites in Malaysia with a LightSound device that converts light to sounds so that the visually impaired can listen to the solar eclipse.
LightSound devices, developed by Harvard University, are also placed in Tanjung Piai in Johor and in Serian, Sarawak.
Khong said Planetarium Negara selected Tech Dome Penang as one of three official sites to record the sounds of the eclipse using the device.
He said the sounds recorded in all three locations during the eclipse will later be compiled to create a special melody.
The annular solar eclipse in Penang started at about 11.15am, reached maximum eclipse at about 1.08pm and ends at about 3.06pm.
The annular solar eclipse, also known as “ring of fire”, happens when the moon covers the centre of the sun to leave only a ring of light around it.
The last such eclipse was on August 28, 1998 and the next annular solar eclipse will be on May 21 in 2031.
The solar eclipse viewing event at Tech Dome Penang was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, Planetarium Negara, Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network, Malaysian Scientific Association, and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
