Annular Solar Eclipse on January 15

Assam News · January 14, 2010

On Friday, January 15th, a nearly total solar eclipse will be visible from Africa and Asia. The first solar eclipse of 2010 is special because it is an annular eclipse, in which the Moon doesn’t completely cover the disc of the Sun, and a small "annulus" (ring) of Sun surrounds the Moon.

According to NASA, the path of the Moon’s antumbral shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the Indian Ocean where the maximum duration of annularity reaches 11 min 08 s. The central path then continues into Asia through Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar), and China. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia. The annular solar eclipse will an end in China’s Shandong Peninsula at 0859 UTC.

In India, the annular solar eclipse of January 15 will start around 11 a.m. and end around 3.15 p.m. The eclipse will first be seen in the south of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. But, the spectacular gold ring will be visible from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram.

Share |

Category: Interesting, Science | Tags: Annular Solar Eclipse, India, Interesting, Moon, NASA, News, Science, Space, Sun