Amid the Diwali festivities, a partial solar eclipse will take place on Tuesday, October 25 and it will be visible from most cities in India. The eclipse – the second and last of the year – is expected to be visible across Europe, North-east Africa and West Asia. As a result, the cities where the partial eclipse will be the most visible are New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.
“The partial solar eclipse will begin in Iceland at around 14:29 hours IST and will be seen at its maximum from Russia at 16:30 hours (IST). It will end at around 18:32 hours (IST) over the Arabian Sea,” astrophysicist Debi Prasad Duari was quoted as saying by PTI.
“During the new moon (Amavasya) the Sun, Moon and Earth almost come in a linear configuration, whereby from earth we can see the moon without any sunlight falling on it. But at times, as on October 25, the Sun, Moon and Earth will almost be on the same plane resulting in the moon appearing to cover the Sun partially for a period of time causing a partial Solar Eclipse,” he explained.
Which cities in India will see the partial solar eclipse?
The partial eclipse will be visible for the most duration – that is, for 1 hour 45 minutes – from Gujarat’s Dwarka.
“In New Delhi, it will commence at around 16:29 hours and end with the sunset at 18:09 hours with the maximum eclipse to occur at 17:42 hours when the Sun will be obscured by the Moon by an amount of only 24.5 per cent,” Duari said.
In Mumbai, he noted, the eclipse will begin at 16:49 hours with the maximum occuring at around 17:42 hours as well.
In southern and central India, the eclipse will be observed just before sunset. In Bengaluru, the eclipse will begin at 17:12 hours, reaching its maximum at 17:49 hours and ending at 17:55 hours during the sunset. Chennai will have the eclipse during 17:14 to 17:44 hours, the astrophysicist said.
The eastern metropolis, on the other hand, will be able to witness the partial solar eclipse, for a very small duration during sunset, Duari said. In Kolkata, the eclipse will be visible only for 11 minutes, while in Siliguri it will be visible for 17 minutes.
The eclipse will not be observed from north eastern states at all as the phenomenon will be occurring after the sunset in those regions, he said.
(With agency inputs)