Solar Eclipse 2021: Which Indian cities will witness Surya Grahan? Tips for viewing

New Delhi, June 09: A rare celestial event, annular solar eclipse, popularly called as ring of fire eclipse will be visible on June 10. While people living in parts of the eastern United States, northern Alaska, Canada and parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa will be able to see the annular phase, people in rest of India can witness a partial eclipse.

What is a solar eclipse?

A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when the Moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun and when all the three objects are aligned. An annular solar eclipse will occur when the angular diameter of the Moon falls short of that of the Sun so that it cannot cover up the latter completely. As a result a ring of the Sun's disk remains visible around the Moon.

According to the space.com, the 'ring of fire' will shine with only one-tenth of the sun's normal total light and "near the point of greatest eclipse over the polar region, the annular phase will last up to three minutes and 51 seconds..."

Solar Eclipse in India: Date, Time and Place

The first solar eclipse will not be visible from India, some reports claim that some parts of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh will be able to experience a partial solar eclipse.

Reportedly, skygazers can see a very small part of the solar eclipse from the vicinity of Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh at around 5:52 pm. In the northern part of Ladakh, where the sun will set at around 6.15 pm.

First, the partial eclipse will start at around 11:42 am Indian Standard Time and the annular eclipse will appear to occur from 3:30 pm and will continue up to 4:52 pm, though for different intervals for a particular region, depending upon one''s geographical location. The partial eclipse will end at around 6:41 pm IST.

Tips for viewing Solar Eclipse 2021

• Eclipsed Sun should not be viewed with the naked eye, even for a very short time. It will cause permanent damage of the eyes leading to blindness even when the moon covers most portion of the Sun.
• Safe technique to observe the solar eclipse is either by using proper filter like aluminized Mylar, black polymer, welding glass of shade number 14 or by making projection of Sun's image on a white board by telescope.
• Do not use sunglasses, goggles, exposed x-ray sheet or lampblack over a glass. They are not safe. Nor is viewing the Sun's image on the surface of the water.
• Welders glass #13 or # 14 can be used to see the Sun directly with naked eyes.
• Make a pinhole in a card sheet and hold it under the Sun. At some distance, keep a screen of white paper. Image of the Sun can be seen on this sheet. By adjusting the gap between the sheet and the screen, the image can be made larger.
• Look at the shadow of a bush or a tree. With the gaps between the leaves acting like a pinhole, numerous images of the eclipsed Sun can be seen on the ground.
• You can use a strainer for making pinhole images.
• Cover the 'compact' makeup kit mirror with black paper, with a small hole at the centre. Reflect the image of the Sun on a distant wall in shadow. You can get a projected image of the eclipsed Sun.

When is the next solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse will occur on December 4, 2021. Mot of South Australia, southern Africa, South in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica would witness the celestial event.