The last Solar Eclipse of the year was witnessed on Thursday morning. The Sun turned into a ‘ring of fire’ as only the edges were seen lightened.
Beautiful pictures of the eclipse were captured from Trivandrum and Ahmedabad in India, while the Surya Grahan was also witnessed in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, among other parts of the world.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the earth and the sun and when all the three bodies are aligned.
An annular eclipse occurs when the moon covers the sun’s centre, leaving the sun’s outer edges visible to form a ‘ring of fire’ or annulus around the moon.
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Here are some interesting facts:
1. We experience total Solar Eclipse when the sun from the Earth is 400 times the Moon distance and the diameter of Sun is 400 times the diameter of the Moon. Due to this alignment, Total Solar Eclipse occurs in which the Moon covers the whole Sun. A Total Solar Eclipse will only be visible until the Sun is mostly covered by the Moon.
2. The longest duration of the Total Solar Eclipse can be 7.5 minutes. On July 2, the duration will be around 4 minutes and 33 seconds which will be the longest until 2027. Every year about 2-5 solar eclipses occur.
3. The shadows of the Eclipse travel at 1,100 miles per hour at the equator and up to 5,000 miles per hour near the poles. Only, partial solar eclipses can be observed from the North and the South Poles.
4. A small amount of exposure to direct sunlight could entirely destroy the downstream equipment and the coatings on the primary and secondary mirrors.
5. During total Solar Eclipse temperature may drop over by 20 degree Fahrenheit or 12 degree Celsius.
6. Safe technique to observe the solar eclipse is either by using a proper filter like aluminized mylar, black polymer, welding glass of shade number 14 or by making a projection of Sun’s image on a whiteboard by telescope.
7. Every eclipse begins at sunrise at some point in its track and ends at sunset about half way around the world from the start point. Partial solar eclipses can be seen up to 3,000 miles from the track of totality. During the total solar eclipse local animals and birds often prepare themselves for sleep or behave in a confuse manner.