The spectacular cosmic event of the total solar eclipse today was missed by people in India. Indians have only experienced a partial eclipse from some places in the country.

Dr Debiprosad Duari, the director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, said that a partial eclipse would be seen from the eastern half of the country. Another factor which makes it harder to experience the cosmic event is that the eclipse will start either before sunrise or around sunrise in India.

The total solar eclipse was seen from a very small region starting from an area in the Indian Ocean through East Asian countries like Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi and through some islands of Australia ending at the middle of the Pacific Ocean at a location far away from any country.

The people of the Indian subcontinent were unfortunately not able to witness this spectacular cosmic event. The total solar eclipse means that the disc of the moon covers the sun completely and creates darkness during the daytime. Only a partial solar eclipse was visible for people in the Indian subcontinent.

The time of the eclipse is quite early too. For example, in Kolkata, the eclipse was in progress at the sun rises at 5:51 AM and the maximum partial eclipse was visible at around 6:06 AM and it ended completely by 6:50 AM when the sun is at a height of 12.8 degrees above the horizon. The maximum obscuration visible from Kolkata is around 18.36 per cent.

The major places in India from where the eclipse could be viewed at the time of sunrise are Siliguri, Coochbehar, Guwahati, Puri, Chennai and Kanyakumari. People in the northeastern part of India were able to see the beginning of the eclipse because the sun was up in the sky when it starts. People of Imphal would experience 1 hour 21 minutes of eclipse even though there was not much of obscuration. Experts say that it is very crucial to wear some kind of solar filter to view the eclipse without any eye damage.

Image by vishnu vijayan from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/photos/solar-eclipse-eclipse-sun-sky-moon-2575133/