Compiled from various souces

Mangalore, Mar 19: Several parts of the country will wake up to a partially eclipsed sun on Monday morning.

As a rare coincidence, the eclipse occurs right on the Ugadi day in Karnataka, which is celebrated as Gudi Padwa in the north.

For amateur sky-watchers, a telescope has been set up on top of the Sphoorti complex in Kulshekar in the city, where the public will have the rare privilege of watching the spectacle during the ecliptic duration on Monday.

WARNING: Viewing the sun without proper protective devices can result in permanent eye damage.

File pics of a solar eclipse

More on the eclipse

The partial solar eclipse, visible across the country, will begin at 6:08 am. When the shadow of the moon first touches the earth during local sunrise at a point in the Bay of Bengal near the coast of Chennai. The beginning of the eclipse will be visible only from the eastern, North Eastern and some parts of North India.

The remaining parts of India will see sunrise after the eclipse begins. it will end at 9:55 am When the moon's shadow leaves the earth at local sunset at a point in the Beaufort Sea, North of Alaska. The eclipse will be visible in the region covering most of Alaska, eastern and central Asia except the central parts of Japan and western parts of Russia.

The greatest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 0.876 occurs at 0802 IST at a point in North-West of Russia.

Mumbai report

The partial solar eclipse would mean that there is no location on earth from where a total solar eclipse would be seen, but the eclipse will be seen from all of India, according to Mumbai's Nehru Planetarium Director N Rathnasree.

Revealing that more to the North one travels the more will be the fraction of the Sun's disc that will be seen eclipsed, Dr Rathnasree said here over the weekend: "In the Eastern parts of the country, the Sun will rise and then the eclipse will start. Travelling Westward, one will see a rising Sun that is already under a little eclipse, which should make for interesting views."

Warning

Warning people not to look at either a rising Sun or a setting Sun, the Nehru Planetarium Director said those equipped with digital cameras that have an LCD display can point the camera at the rising Sun while checking the view in the display and thus obtain interesting images of a rising eclipsed Sun against the monumental heritage of the country.

"As seen from Delhi, the Sun rises at 6:27 a.m. by which time 8.5 per cent of the disk of the Sun is already covered in eclipse. The maximum of eclipse, when about 47.8 per cent of the disk of the Sun will be covered by the Moon, will occur at 7:06:44 a.m. and the eclipse will end at 8:01:01 a.m.," added Dr Rathnasree.

Public sky-watch and observations of the solar eclipse by students and amateur astronomers are being organized by the Nehru Planetarium on the sprawling Teen Murti House ground in New Delhi where telescopes equipped with projection apparatus and solar filters will be used to help the visitors view the eclipse. As part of the solar eclipse activities, the Nehru Planetarium is also organising an exhibition of paintings related to solar eclipse by Rajesh Harsh, the Planetarium artist.

Chennai report

"An estimated 24.6 per cent of the sun will be covered by the moon at the time of mid-eclipse. In New Delhi, about 57.3 per cent will be covered," according to P Iyamperumal, executive director, Birla Planetarium, Chennai.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, totally or partially obscuring the sun from the earth. The configuration can occur only during particular new moon days, when the sun and the moon are aligned in a straight line as seen from the earth.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the sun is completely obscured by the moon. The event can be witnessed from a narrow strip of shadow path on the earth's surface, known as the path of totality, which is 250-km wide and several thousand km long.

A partial eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are not exactly in line, and the moon partially obscures the sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a larger area, a few thousand km on both the sides of the path of an annular or total eclipse.

"One should never attempt to view the sun or the eclipse with the naked eye or through binoculars. It will cause permanent eye injury. An image of the sun projected on a wall or a screen with a telescope may be observed. Such an arrangement will be made at the Birla Planetarium, Gandhi Mandapam Road, for the public to view the event safely," says Iyamperumal.