Solar Eclipse today: Interesting facts about Surya Grahan 2021

New Delhi, June 10: A spectacular ring of fire solar eclipse is set to grace the sky on Thursday. The first solar eclipse of 2021 visible in India, except in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, a few minutes before the sunset.

People from parts of Greenland, North-Eastern Canada, the North Pole and some parts of Russia will be lucky enough to witness the ring of fire on Thursday. In Canada, it will be seen for about three minutes, while in Greenland it will occur when the solar eclipse reaches its peak following which it will be visible in Siberia and the North Pole.

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.

There are three types of solar eclipses:

The partial solar eclipse, wherein the Moon comes between the Sun and Earth, but the Moon only partially covers the Sun's disk.

The total solar eclipse, where the Sun is covered by the moon completely; and lastly, the annual solar eclipse.

What is ring of fire annular solar eclipse?

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and the earth come in a straight line and almost on the same plane. At that moment, the moon must be farther away from the earth in its elliptical orbit and hence, cannot cover the disc of the sun completely, resulting in a narrow band of light around the dark silhouette of the moon, making the ring of fire visible.

Where will solar eclipse 2021 be visible?

According to NASA, the 'ring of fire' will only be visible to people living in parts of Canada, Greenland, and Northern Russia.

Meanwhile, a partial solar eclipse will be on display for residents of Eastern USA, Northern Alaska, Canada, parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia.

In India, the solar eclipse will be visible from the northern-northeastern extremes of the country-from Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh-for a few minutes before sunset.

When will solar eclipse 2021 occur?

Globally, the solar eclipse 2021 will begin at 01:42 PM IST, and end around 06:41 PM IST. The total duration of the annular eclipse will be around 3 minutes and 51 seconds.

In India, the sighting appears difficult as the path of the eclipse will just be seen in the North-Eastern extremes of the country in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

In Arunachal Pradesh, skygazers will see the eclipse just before the sunset. In Ladakh, the eclipse will be seen for a short duration but at a comparatively higher altitude.

A very small part of the solar eclipse from the vicinity of Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh at around 5:52pm, the official said. In the northern part of Ladakh, where the sun will set at around 6.15pm, the last phases of the phenomenon can be seen at around 6pm.

How can solar eclipse 2021 be viewd?

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.

Will solar eclipse have any negative or harmful impact on pregnant woman?

A common theory is that eclipses are bad for pregnant women but there is no proven scientific data regarding the same.

Is it safe to eat food during Solar eclipse?

Solar eclipse is considered as harbinger of bad omen. Hence it is necessary to be careful. But there is no harm if a person eats or does routine work during the solar eclipse.

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.

How often does a solar eclipse happen?

Undoubtedly, eclipses excite more interest than any other event in astronomy. But, how rare are these events? Total solar eclipses, are often called rare occurrence. That seems to be a popular misconception.

On an average, a total solar eclipse occurs on every 18 months.

That means two totalities for every three years. The occurrence of the eclipse depends on the particular calendar years. Every year, one can witness two solar eclipses. The maximum number of solar eclipses that can take place in the same year is five, but this is rare.