|
 |
|
 |
|
 Partial Eclipse of
Moon tonight:
A partial moon eclipse that can be viewed in and around India would
be witnessed tonight, says a statement issued by Nehru Planetarium.....
Read Full
|
|
|
Mumbai: Memories of the 22 July
2009 Total Solar Eclipse are still fresh with those who were lucky
(like the author of these lines) to catch it from Robertsganj (near
Varanasi) in spite of the monsoon cloud cover all over the country.
The lucky, unlucky ones and many others are now preparing for
another major solar eclipse that would be seen from our country. The
date is 15 January 2010. This time it would not be a total but
rather an annular one. This comes close on the heels of the partial
lunar eclipse on the New Year’s Day. Eclipse galore, isn’t it?
The places where only the partial phase would be visible will see
something like this with varying degree of obscuration governed by
the magnitude of the eclipse. For example, in Mumbai the magnitude
is 0.644 which means at the time of the greatest phase 64.4% of the
diameter of the Sun would be covered by the Moon. The Sun would look
like a “bitten-off-biscuit”.
|
 |
|
This is how the Sun would look like during the maximum phase
of the annular solar eclipse. |
A team comprising three scientists of
Nehru Planetarium Mumbai would be camping at Rameshwaram and would
capture the event as still images and video. They would also be
employing an H-alpha filter which may show some exotic phenomena
(like prominences shooting up) from the solar limb at the time of
the eclipse.
|
 |
|
The
red line is the central line; the annular eclipse will be
visible in the area bounded by the two blue lines. The parts
of the country north of the upper blue line will witness a
partial solar eclipse so also the regions of Sri Lanka south
of the lower blue line.
(Map
courtesy: Fred Espenak http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html.) |
The annular eclipse of the Sun will be
visible from southern India on 15 January 2010. People from several
important stations in India such as Trvandrum, Nagercoil,
Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Thanjavur, etc. will witness it.
Along the central line it will last for almost 10 minutes. The
entire eclipse should be seen through safe solar filter or by
projection method.
The table below gives the timings for
some important stations in India where only the partial phase of the
eclipse would be seen.
|
Place |
Eclipse
Begins
(I.S.T.)
h m
|
Greatest
Phase
(I.S.T.)
h m
|
Magnitude |
Eclipse
Ends
(I.S.T.)
h m
|
|
Ahmedabad
|
11
27.2 |
13
22.3 |
0.563
|
15
03.5 |
|
Allahabad
|
11
56.7 |
13
47.5 |
0.665
|
15
21.0 |
|
Bangalore |
11
16.5 |
13
23.5 |
0.846
|
15
11.1 |
|
Bhopal
|
11
40.5 |
13
35.7 |
0.635
|
15
14.0 |
|
Bhubaneswar
|
11
56.6 |
13
51.2 |
0.840
|
15
26.1 |
|
Chandigarh
|
11
57.5 |
13
39.4 |
0.488
|
15
08.5 |
|
Chennai
|
11
25.4 |
13
30.5 |
0.891
|
15
15.2 |
|
Cochin
|
11
05.7 |
13
14.9 |
0.886
|
15
06.0 |
|
Delhi
|
11
53.2 |
13
39.1 |
0.531
|
15
11.0 |
|
Guwahati
|
12
20.6 |
14
04.8 |
0.812
|
15 3 1.9
|
|
Hyderabad
|
11
29.4 |
13
32.0 |
0.769
|
15
15.2 |
|
Jaipur
|
11
45.7 |
13
34.6 |
0.541
|
15
09.2 |
|
Kolkata
|
12
07.2 |
13
57.5 |
0.834
|
15
29.1 |
|
Lucknow
|
11
57.5 |
13
46.4 |
0.623
|
15
19.0 |
|
Mangalore
|
11
07.4 |
13
15.4 |
0.800
|
15
06.1 |
|
Mumbai
|
11
16.7 |
13
18.2 |
0.644
|
15
04.5 |
|
Nagpur
|
11
39.9 |
13
37.7 |
0.705
|
15
17.1 |
|
Nainital
|
11
59.8 |
13
44.6 |
0.552
|
15
14.9 |
|
Patna
|
12
04.7 |
13
53.9 |
0.716
|
15
25.5 |
|
Pune |
11
18.6 |
13
20.8 |
0.670
|
15
06.8 |
|
Puri |
11
55.8 |
13
50.8 |
0.849
|
15
26.0 |
Many Indian amateurs and scientists
would be camping near the northern limit of the annularity. Even
though the eclipse duration would be quite short in such locations
but these are ideal for longer recording of the “edge” phenomena
like occurrence of Bailey’s Beads.
Another team of Nehru Planetarium will
stay put in Mumbai to show the partial phase of the eclipse to the
public that throngs the planetarium in large numbers on such
occasions. The solar telescope fixed on the terrace of the
planetarium will be used to project a large image of the eclipsed
sun on a video screen in the planetarium lobby. In addition a few
other smaller telescopes will be put up for safe viewing of the
eclipse. There would be entry fee for this.
Dr. Piyush Pandey is
Director of Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai.
|
2009: A year of commissions, little actions for Indian Muslims
Mumbai Career Festival is back, this
time in January: 
'Higher education, scientific research will set India as a global power': 
Religious
diversity and tolerance in Islam:
Majority in India and Pakistan wants peace between both countries: 
PM asks police to balance duty with respect for rights: 
A coffee table
book in aid of Bahadur Shah Zafar's descendants: 
Muffled
Voices: Socio-Cultural
Impediments to Indian Muslim Women’s Struggles for Gender Justice:
The numerous struggles of Indian
women for gender justice have been well-documented....
Comment on this article