India to witness total solar eclipse on Jul 22

Mumbai, Jun 9: Get ready for a rare celestial treat soon, 'a total solar eclipse'. It will be seen in India in the early hours of Jul 22. It will take another 78 long years to catch a glimpse again!

It will be the third total solar eclipse to be visible in India in the past 15 years. The next total solar eclipse will occur in 2087. Bharat Adur, director, Akashganga Centre for Astronomy said, "The eclipse will start shortly after sunrise from Surat in south Gujarat and will be visible in a long band that extends up to Japan."

"In Surat it will be visible in totality for three minutes, but it Bihar it will be nearly four minutes. In Iwo-Jima, near the Guam Islands in the Far East, its visibility will be as long as six minutes," Adur added.

He further said that the Sun would be covered up to 95 percent in Mumbai and 80 percent in New Delhi and other north Indian cities, and Bangalore, Chennai and other southern cities. It will be visible in most parts of India in varying degrees of totality, depending on the monsoon situation.

The route the eclipse will travel through central India largely encompasses the backward and tribal regions of the country. He urged the government to take necessary steps to create awareness of the eclipse among the tribals and poor people, so as to ensure they don't suffer any health issues.

"This is the last opportunity for the present generation to view a total solar eclipse and they must make all efforts to exploit it, especially since it happens in the Year of Astronomy-2009 declared by the UNESCO," Adur said.

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