Getting to witness one total solar eclipse in a lifetime is a blessing. Getting to see a total solar eclipse, followed by an annular solar eclipse six months later (without much of a hassle) is what I call a true double blessing. And that’s what some people in India are getting this year.
In July 2009, the path of totality passed through central and north India. Even though it was monsoon time, and the totality occurred almost at sunrise, many lucky ones got a good glimpse of totality from places like Kashi and Sasaram. Now, on January 15th, the annular eclipse path is going through the southern tip of India. January being one of the best months for sky watching in south India, and the fact that the eclipse occurs during mid day, I hope, will make it another Great Indian Eclipse!
Why is the Sun not getting covered completely by the Moon, even though it is passing directly in front of the Sun? The answer is simple: the Earth is near the point where it is closest to the Sun, making it look larger (comparatively) than the Moon. So, instead of a total eclipse, we have an annular eclipse where a ring of the Sun is seen around the black shadow of the moon at the maximum eclipse.
On a side note: In India, it is considered to be auspicious to visit a holy place (generally with a river, ocean, lake etc) during an eclipse and take a dip in water after the eclipse is over. The last total eclipse passing through Kashi* gave those religiously minded people to visit Kashi for the eclipse for a dip in the holy river Ganga, and this annular eclipse gives them a reason to go to Rameshwaram* and take a dip in the ocean! Both Kashi and Rameshwaram are very ancient cities with a long history, both have shrines of Shiva (Jyothirlinga)and a pilgrimage to Kashi is not supposed to be complete unless a devote visits Rameshwaram!
-neelanjana
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ಜನವರಿ 12, 2010 at 4:45 ಅಪರಾಹ್ನ
ashok
Is it really such a rare occurence? In recent times, i have heard so many times about eclipses…every time it is once in a life time..!
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ಜನವರಿ 12, 2010 at 5:37 ಅಪರಾಹ್ನ
neelanjana
Contrary to what you may be thinking, a total solar eclipse is *almost* a life-time opportunity if you are not considering traveling thousands of miles. An annular eclipse is also very rare too. However a partial solar eclipse, or any sort of lunar eclipse is NOT a rare event.
India has had a good share of total eclipses in the recent past – in the last 30 years – but this is not necessarily true always!
If you look at the list of total/annular eclipses that have occurred in India after 1900, it becomes very clear.
1901 – Annular eclipse (extreme south Tamil Nadu/Kerala)
1933 – Annular eclipse (passing through Punjab, Haryana, UP etc)
1944 – Annular eclipse (passing through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa)
1965 – Annular eclipse (Passing through J&K, Himachal, Assam, Tripura)
1980 – Total eclipse (through Karnataka, Andhra, Orissa)
1995 – Total eclipse (through Rajastan, UP, MP)
1999 – Total eclipse (through Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Orissa)
2009 – Total eclipse (through Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Arunachal)
2010 – Annular eclipse (through extreme south TN)
Future eclipses of 21st century:
2031 – Annular eclipse (almost in the same area as in 2010!)
2034 – Total eclipse (in J&K)
2074 – Annular eclipse (through Karnataka, AP,MP. Bihar)
2085 – Annular eclipse (Through Karnataka, AP)
All data from the NASA eclipse page.
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ಜನವರಿ 13, 2010 at 9:05 ಫೂರ್ವಾಹ್ನ
ashok
thanks a lot 🙂
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