On the morning of December 26, the world witnessed the last annual Solar Eclipse of the decade, and it was phenomenal. According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the annular Surya Grahan began at around 8 am and ended nearly around 12:30 pm. It was witnessed from India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Borneo and Saudi Arabia. During the December 26 solar eclipse, which is often referred to as the ‘Ring Of Fire’, was initially visible as a partial eclipse and was viewed first from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Even though people from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were able to see the eclipse, the Surya Grahan was first viewed from Chervathur in Kerala. The rest of the country could only see a partial solar eclipse.
So, what is a solar eclipse?
Basically, there are three types of solar eclipse.
- Total
- Partial
- Annualr
Surya Grahan occurs when the Moon, Sun and the Earth are aligned. A solar eclipse is a phenomenon which happens when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, partly or totally blocking the view of the Sun for someone on Earth. While in partial and annular solar eclipses, the moon only blocks a part of the sun, but it can get as dark as night during the total solar eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the diameter of the moon is smaller than that of the sun, blocking most of its light, which causes the sun to look like a ‘ring of fire’. While most years have just two solar eclipses, but there can be as many as seven.
Did you miss the solar eclipse? Don’t worry, we have got the most stunning pictures for you. Take a look!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, like any other Indian, was keen on witnessing the eclipse but couldn’t due to the cloud cover in Delhi. He took to Twitter to express his disappointment, but mentioned that he saw glimpses on live stream.
The solar eclipse comes with its myths and superstitions. While some say that cooking and eating during the eclipse is dangerous, some believe that stepping out during an eclipse can be dangerous too. We just witnessed the last solar eclipse of the decade and with the associated myths, came a lot of jokes on Twitter.
Well, Twitteratti like to have their own fun, don’t they? The coming year 2020 will witness six eclipses in total, out of which two will be solar eclipses. One will be an annular solar eclipse and will be visible on June 21, 2020, while the other one will be a total solar eclipse, and will take place on December 14, 2020.
Featured Image: Twitter