'Ring of fire' solar eclipse begins, visible from parts of India

The annular solar eclipse, the last one of the year, has begun. While a large crowd has gathered in north Kerala’s Cheruvathur and Wayanad to witness the eclipse, a thick cover of cloud is likely to hamper viewing in large parts of Maharashtra. The eclipse can be viewed in India between 8.05 am to 11 am

Solar eclipse witnessed in Dubai. #SolarEclipse https://t.co/rBM3tCDaTv pic.twitter.com/y9jmsR85lu

— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2019

The beginning of the eclipse was first seen from the Arabian sea coast of Oman at around 7:59 hours IST and the annular eclipse will become first visible in west of Baharain at 09:06 hours IST, Debiprosad Duari, the Director, Research and Academic of MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, MP Birla Planetarium, said.

In the Indian sub-continent, the annularity phases will be seen within a narrow path grazing the southern Indian peninsula through Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu before crossing the Bay of Bengal for northern Sri Lanka.

The people of the southern part of the country will see a greater part of the partial solar eclipse because of the geometry of the eclipse path. But every Indian will get an opportunity to see at least a partial eclipse.

In India the maximum duration of the annularity phases will be just over 3 minutes, said Duari.

Thursday’s eclipse will be visible in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth.

An annular solar eclipse takes place when the moon’s apparent diametre is smaller than that of the Sun’s and blocks most of the Sun’s light. This causes the Sun to look like a ring (annulus) of fire, Debiprosad Duari, the Director, Research and Academic of MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, MP Birla Planetarium, said.