City to witness greatest phase of solar eclipse at 11.56am today

Jaipur: Pink City will witness the greatest phase of annular solar eclipse (88% obscuration) at 11.56am on Sunday.

“The astronomical significance of this solar eclipse is that this is happening on the summer solstice date - the longest day of the year. Second, the greatest eclipse phase will occur around 12 noon,” said Sandip Bhattacharya, assistant director, B M Birla Planetarium.

“Due to Covid pandemic, there will be no arrangement at the B M Birla Planetarium campus for witnessing the solar eclipse,” he added. The sun will take the shape of a bracelet at the greatest eclipse phase.

“In Jaipur, the obscuration will be 88% and in Gharsana (Ganganagar), it will be 99%. The solar eclipse will begin at 10.12am from Gharsana. The greatest phase will be around 11.56am and the eclipse will end at 1.44pm. This is the only solar eclipse to be seen from India this year,” said Bhattacharya.

The solar eclipse shall move across southern Arabian peninsula and enter India at Gharsana (10.12am) across Rajasthan border. Travelling at 2,765km per hour northeast, it touches Suratgarh (10.14am), Sirsa (10.16am) and Kurukshetra (10.21am) in Haryana, Dehradun (10.24am) and Joshimath (10.27 am) in Uttarakhand in northern India, before entering Tibet.

“The last similar annular solar eclipse was visible in south India in December, 2019. This time, in Gharsana, the maximum obscuration is for about half-a-minute. However, the duration was little longer last time (south India), which was for about 3-4 minutes. Minimum, there are two solar eclipses a year throughout the earth,” he added.

During the 1995 solar eclipse the obscuration was total, i.e. 100 per cent. This time, the greatest obscuration will be 99%. “One should wear eclipse goggles and No. 14 Welder’s Glass to witness the solar eclipse,” said Bhattacharya.