Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Sep 22: Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers Club of Poornaprajna College, Udupi, is organising the celebration of Annular Solar eclipse on December 26, 2019, said A P Bhat, founding coordinator, PAAC.
Bhat, addressing at the Udupi press club here on Saturday, September 21 said, "This will be a spectacular moment for the science enthusiasts to witness the wonderful phenomenon of an annular solar eclipse. The eclipse will begin at 8.03 am and will reach its peak at 9.24 am with the moon hiding most of the sun, forming an annular eclipse, visible only for a few minutes. The eclipse will end at 11:03 am.
The eclipse will appear partially at places lying above Udupi till north India and will be annular at places below Udupi. This beautiful phenomenon of nature is for most of the people a once in a lifetime opportunity as the next such opportunity will not occur till 2064 in South India.
Describing eclipse Bhat said, "When the moon comes in between the earth and the sun, in perfect alignment, an eclipse is said to occur."
Due to a slight tilt between the orbital plane of the moon's orbit around the earth and that of the earth's orbit around the sun, an annular or total eclipse is a rare occurrence. If the moon is at the apogee the eclipse that occurs is said to be annular as the moon does not cover the entire sun. If the moon is at the perigee, the eclipse will be a total eclipse as it completely covers the sun from our view.
An eclipse should never be attempted to be seen with the naked eye as it can damage the eye easily. For this purpose, to view the eclipse safely, a pin-hole projector apparatus has been prepared, such that the reflected image of the eclipse can be projected onto a wall, enabling a large number of people to view the eclipse simultaneously. Saligrama Venkataramana Upadhya is the brain behind the building of this device.
Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers Club has been bringing the wonders of the cosmos to the public with the help of hundreds of sky-watch and eclipse-viewing programs for the past 35 years. We seek to enable 1000 schools, colleges and other institutions to view the December 26, annular solar eclipse by organizing various programs, under the guidance of Dr A P Bhat. The President of Poornaprajna Educational Institutions, H H Vishwapreeyatheertha Swamiji along with the vice-president, H H Eeshapreeyatheertha Swamiji have provided unparalleled support in organizing these programs.
The department of Physics, Poornaprajna College, Udupi, Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers Club in association with Pilikula Regional Science Center, Mangaluru, an association of physics teachers of Mangaluru University jointly organized one day teachers' training workshop on astronomy and eclipses at the mini hall at PPC on Tuesday, September 24. The chief guest for the occasion was, Dr K V Rao, director, Pilikula Regional Science Center, guest of honour Sheshashayana K, DDPI and Dr Raghavendra A, the principal presided over the programme.
Atul Bhat, coordinator, PAAC, Prathibha C Acharya, Head of Department Physics, Dr Raghavendra A, principal of the college and Dinesh, student was present.