Kolkata witnesses rare partial solar eclipse

Kolkata: Kolkata witnessed the spectacular astronomical phenomenon of a solar eclipse after sunrise on Thursday. In Kolkata, the eclipse was a partial one (45.1%) and began at 8:26 am. The maximum eclipse was at 9:52 am and it ended at 11:32 am.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between earth and the sun. People of the Southern part of India were fortunate to see a greater extent of the partial solar eclipse, because of the geometry of the eclipse path.

"Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) made arrangements for direct observation of partial eclipse through telescope fitted with filters on December 26 from 8:15 am onwards. Special viewing glasses were also arranged for general public to observe the rare celestial event. Furthermore, the image of the sun was projected through the telescope on screen during the eclipse period for the benefit of the masses," said Gautam Seal, technical officer of BITM.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the sun's, blocking most of the sun's light and causing the sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over an area of thousands of kilometers.

The shadow reached the Southeast coast of India, Kannur and Kerala. Traveling through northern Sri Lanka, it headed into the Bay of Bengal at a speed of 1.1 km per second.

The maximum obstruction of the sun during the eclipse when seen from different cities of India was 89.4% in Bangalore, 84.6% from Chennai, 78.8% from Mumbai, 74.3% in Hyderabad, 66.0% in Ahmedabad, 45.1 % in Kolkata and 44.7% in Delhi.