Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Dec 25: The solar eclipse on Thursday December 26 will create a ‘ring of fire’ in the sky. Mangaluru is among the cities in South India, where one can witness this celestial wonder in all its glory.
The last solar eclipse of the second decade of the 21st century will begin on Thursday at around 8 am and will last for six hours and end shortly after 1.30 pm.
The eclipse will be prominently visible from South India. Cities such as Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) in Kerala; Coimbatore, Madurai, Ooty, Trichy and Chennai in Tamil Nadu; Mangaluru and Bengaluru in Karnataka; and Puducherry can clearly witness the solar eclipse. Meanwhile, other parts of India can also witness the solar eclipse but the intensity may vary.
The December 26 solar eclipse is known as an ‘annular eclipse’. Though eclipses occur twice or thrice a year, the annular solar eclipse is unique as it occurs when the apparent diameter of the moon is smaller than that of the Sun.
During the total solar eclipse, the moon completely blocks the sun, while in an annular eclipse, the moon blocks the sun from the centre, but leaves the rims visible thus creating a 'ring of fire'.
Annular Solar Eclipse date and time in India
In India, the solar eclipse is visible from 8.06 am to 11.13 am on December 26. This eclipse will be the third and final solar eclipse for the year 2019. Annularity that lasts for three minutes will occur between 9.24 am and 9.27 am on the east coast and 9.31 am and 9.35 am on the west coast.
Educational institutions gear up for solar eclipse
The Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) Bejai-Kapikad has made arrangements for enthusiasts to view the celestial wonder from premises of The Bharath Academy, Blueberry Hills.
St Aloysius College (Autonomous) is facilitating interested students and the public to view the eclipse. Association of Friends of Astronomy, Goa is also joining them to facilitate the eclipse observation with special instruments and indirect methods.
Prof Narendra Nayak, chairman, Expert Group of Institutions, in a press release stated that it is for the first time that as many as 2,300 students are going to watch the celestial event at a time in a single campus. He said that the students will be provided with safety eclipse goggles to view this rare phenomenon and it will help remove superstitions about eclipses from the minds of common people.
How to safely watch an eclipse
It is not advisable to look at the sun during a solar eclipse with naked eyes. Only eclipse glasses that have a certification with "ISO 12312-2 international standard" are safe for use, according to NASA. Other options are the number 14 welder's glass, or a pinhole projector that allows a user to project the image of the sun on paper or cardboard.