Millennium’s longest solar eclipse; a rare celestial treat

Millions watched the rare celestial treat, the century's longest annular solar eclipse on Friday, the photosphere of the sun covered by the moon, presenting a ring of fire in the sky for more than 10 minutes in some parts of Southern India.

The annual eclipse however was seen maximum only in the southern parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northern parts of Sri Lanka while the rest of India witnessed partial eclipse.

The eclipse, which could be seen across parts of Africa and Asia, began in India around 11 a.m. in Kerala and ended around 3:15 p.m. in Mizoram. The southern tips of Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu offered the best views.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring the Earth's view of the Sun, while an annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farther from the Earth than normal, and hence its apparent size is not quite sufficient to cover the Sun completely.

In annular solar eclipse, the Sun appears as a very bright annulus, which in Latin means 'ring', surrounding the outline of the Moon, giving the appearance of a 'Ring of Fire'.

ISRO to analyse data of solar eclipse

It was significant the path of the solar eclipse was passing through two major scientific installations--the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikotta.

The firing of the eleven sounding rockets were made in such a way as to collect relevant data on atmospheric structure and dynamics at different altitudes from the earth before, during and after the annular solar eclipse.

“When solar eclipse occurs, there will be a sudden cut-off of solar radiation. This cut-off will affect the atmospheric structure and dynamics and there will be a large reduction in ionization and temperature. Today’s eclipse offered a unique opportunity to scientists to investigate the effects of fast varying solar flux on the photochemistry and electrodynamics of the different atmospheric regions, especially the equatorial mesopause and ionosphere-thermosphere regions,” the VSSC said.

The results of these experiments would be correlated with ground-based eclipse observations. The interpretation of the eclipse data together with the space data is expected to give new insights into earlier eclipse observations also, the VSSC said.

People at Dhanushkodi, and Rameshwaram touted as the best location to watch the longest eclipse in a century, were excited as the moon began to cover the sun.

But while the scientists and eclipse chasers were out in full force, many Indians followed taboos such as staying indoors or abstaining from eating or cooking during the eclipse period.

Several Hindu temples across India remained closed for the duration of the eclipse.

Thousands prepared to take a holy bath to cleanse themselves of the effects of the eclipse as soon as it ended.

Rationalists encourage eclipse-watchers

In Delhi, the eclipse began at 11:53 a.m. Several skywatchers watched the celestial spectacle from Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi where special arrangements were made.

The Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), a Delhi-based organisation, attempted to debunk the superstitions associated with the eclipse, by encouraging people to understand the celestial phenomenon.

“We are encouraging people to eat food and drink water to bust all myths about the eclipse,” Sachin Bahmba, founder of SPACE said.

“We did several experiments like recording temperature, humidity, wind speed and ambient light during the eclipse,” Mr. Bhamba, who himself is an astronomer, added.

SPACE also tied up with a cruise ship company to follow the eclipse at sea. The luxury vessel travelled from the port town of Kochi in central Kerala to the Maldives Thursday, carrying over 800 tourists, eclipse chasers and scientists from SPACE with special equipment to view the ring of fire from the capital Male.

Kanyakumari, the country's southernmost tip, has turned out to be an 'eclipse destination', as thousands of people converged here to watch the celestial spectacle.

The last time India saw this ‘Ring of Fire’ was November 22, 1965, and it will not be witnessed again before June 21, 2020. The next longest annular solar eclipse will be seen in 3043.

- Asian Tribune -