Bhubaneswar: Odisha will be able to witness an annular solar eclipse, when the Sun appears as a ring around the Moon, on Thursday.
The partial eclipse will be visible in Bhubaneswar from 8.20 am to 11.28 am and the greatest eclipse will be at 9.46 am with maximum obscuration of 54.7 per cent, the Met Centre, Bhubaneswar, said.
This is the third and final celestial happening in 2019, which also saw three lunar eclipses.
Meanwhile, deputy director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium Subhendu Patnaik has urged the people to view the solar eclipse through solar specs, which will act as a protective shield for the eyes against the harmful rays of Sun during the eclipse. These are available at a nominal price of Rs 25 at the planetarium.
Besides, necessary arrangements are being made at the planetarium for mass viewing of the eclipse. “We will use miller sheet through which people can see the sun. Also, telescope will show the larger projection of the Sun,” said Patnaik.
Since the eclipse will be visible in the city after 10 years, around 3,000 to 4,000 people are expected to visit the planetarium this time. A dark room is being constructed for a clearer vision.
Further, there will be volunteers with solar specs and each will cater to 50 people. To manage the crowd on the day, the visitors will be instructed to come in a queue.
“The planetarium has spent about Rs 20,000 to organise the event and the visitors won’t be charged anything to experience the eclipse,” said Patnaik.
“At home, only trust solar specs to safely view the eclipse,” he further said.
He also emphasized on not using telescope without the required filters and even suggested a mirror-reflection method to view the eclipse, covering the mirror with a black sheet with a hole in the centre and holding it adjacent to the Sun. The method will allow the eclipse to be projected on the screen.
THE ECLIPSE
A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when the Moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun and when all the three objects are aligned. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the angular diameter of the Moon falls short of that of the Sun so that it cannot cover up the latter completely. As a result a ring of the Sun’s disk remains visible around the Moon.
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