Karnataka - Bangalore   

Get ready for a celestial treat

Bangalore: Astronomers in India are in for a celestial treat with two eclipses, one partial and another total, all set to present a rare opportunity to study the mysteries of the sun.

A partial solar eclipse will be seen throughout the country on August 1 and Bangaloreans can expect to witness the phenomenon between 4.42 p.m. and 6.07 p.m. Later, on July 22, 2009, many parts of the country will get to see a six-minute total solar eclipse, the longest in 100 years.

The northern belt of Asia, parts of North America, Greenland and northern Europe will experience a total eclipse on this day, according to the Meteorological Centre here.

A solar eclipse always occurs during the new moon when its shadow falls on the earth, says Jagdev Singh, senior professor, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).

“The eclipse will be visible across India, though in different degrees. In southern India, 30 per cent of the sun’s disc will be covered, while the eclipse will be 70 per cent in northern India.”

Unlike the rarer total eclipse, partial eclipses are a fairly common phenomenon and the last one occurred in March 2007, says Prof. Singh.

“Of course, we have to hope there is no major cloud cover. But the sky will become distinctly darker for the duration of the eclipse,” he says.

The IIA is also gearing up to use the opportunity of the 2009 total eclipse to study the sun’s atmosphere (solar corona) that will be visible as a spectacular ring around the moon.

The last time a total solar eclipse was visible in India was in 1999.

The major cities in the country that will see the total eclipse are Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Varanasi and Patna.

Other parts of India, including Bangalore, will see at least a partial eclipse, he says.

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