Solar Eclipse in Pune tomorrow, know more about its science
Manasi Saraf Joshi
Pune, June 20, 2020: Keeping aside all the predictions that the world will be doomed on Solar Eclipse, the scientists across the country have come up with exciting and engaging activities to watch, learn and study the biggest event of this year Annular Solar eclipse. The eclipse will be seen on June 21, 2020, i.e Sunday. Pune will see partial eclipse up to 67 percent from 10:02 am till 1:30 pm.
This will be the last eclipse to be seen from India for the next 28 months. Next eclipse will be on 25 Oct 2022. It will be a solar eclipse. The eclipse will be a partial solar eclipse and visible only from the west of India. Next Umbral lunar eclipse that will be visible from India will take place on 7 Sep 25.
Director of Nehru Planetarium, Arvind Paranjpye said, “the annular eclipse of the Sun is a special case of the total solar eclipse in which the Moon does not cover the Sun completely. On a narrow track over the Earth people can see the Moon traversing on the Sun and for a short period, one can see a ‘ring of fire’ in the sky. Over a large landmass, north and south of this track people will be able to observe a partial solar eclipse.
Bhuj will be the first town to see the beginning of the eclipse 9:58 am. The eclipse ends 4 hours later at Dibrugarh at 2:29 pm”, he said.
“The annular phase of the eclipse will be first seen over Ghersana at the western boundary of India at 11:50 a.m. It will last for 30 seconds. Kurukshetra, about 155 k.m. almost due north of Delhi will be the best place. Dehradun is another well-known place where the annular eclipse can be seen. Kalanka peak in Uttarakhand will be the last major landmark to see the annular eclipse at 12:10 pm lasting for 28 seconds”, he informed.
How to and how not to observe the eclipse: The Sun is a very bright object. Looking at it directly can cause permanent damage to the retina. There are some safe methods to observe the Sun. We list a few important ones here.
Special goggles: There are special goggles made for looking at the Sun. These goggles filter the sunlight for safe viewing.
Welder’s filter: Arc welders in fabrication shops use dark filters to protect their eyes. Such wielder’s filters #13 or # 14 can be used to see the Sun directly with naked eyes.
Pinhole imaging: Make a pinhole in a card sheet and hold it under the Sun. At some distance keep a screen of white paper. Image of the sun can be seen on this sheet. The size of the image can be increased by increasing the distance between the card sheet with pinhole and the screen.
One can also try looking under the tree. Small gaps between the lives also act like pinholes. Or use a small piece of a mirror (such as in ‘compact’ cases of makeup kit) and place a card sheet with a small hole on it. One can then reflect the Sun image on a distant wall.
Sun imaging with optical instruments: The sun can be imaged on a sheet of white paper using a pair of binoculars or a telescope. Using this method one can also see some sunspots if there are any on the sun.
Unsafe methods to observe the Sun – Never try these
Do not use ordinary dark goggles as these are meant to cut only the terrestrial light.
Reflection in water has been advocated by some to look at the Sun. Water reflection does not reduce the intensity of sunrays to safe limits. And since the surface level of water cannot be kept constantly reflected sun rays are also moving constantly and cause strain on the eyes.
NO Lampblack on the glass surface. Some people said that one can look at the Sun through a glass which is coated with lampblack or carbon soot. Please do not do this. It is not a safe method.
How you can participate?
The committee welcomes good pictures taken by the people or those who used innovative method please to send the details. These will be posted on the web pages of POEC with due acknowledgements.
Inter-University of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA): The scientists at IUCAA will be sharing their observations and experiences of different eclipses in the form of short videos, which will be seen at 9.30 am (IST) onwards. For view log on to https://bit.ly/iucaasolseries
Know your city and eclipse timings: Annular Eclipse of 2020 on Jun 21
Site Begins Max End duration
Dehra Dun 10:24 AM 12:05 PM 1:50 PM 14.0
Gharsana 10:12 AM 11:50 AM 1:36 PM 29.8
Kalanka 10:28 AM 12:10 PM 1:55 PM 28.0
Kurukshetra 10:21 AM 12:01 PM 1:47 PM 30.4
The Moon will cover about 99.5 % area of the Sun.
Sites where the partial eclipse will be seen
Site Begins Max End %cover
Agra 10:19 AM 12:02 PM 1:50 PM 90
Ahmedabad 10:03 AM 11:41 AM 1:32 PM 82
Amritsar 10:19 AM 11:57 AM 1:41 PM 94
Bengaluru 10:12 AM 11:47 AM 1:31 PM 47
Bhuj 09:58 AM 11:33 AM 1:23 PM 86
Chennai 10:22 AM 11:58 AM 1:41 PM 46
Dibrugarh 11:07 AM 12:54 PM 2:29 PM 89
Gawahati 10:57 AM 12:45 PM 2:24 PM 84
Hyderabad 10:14 AM 11:55 AM 1:44 PM 60
Indore 10:10 AM 11:51 AM 1:42 PM 78
Jaipur 10:14 AM 11:55 AM 1:44 PM 91
Japal 10:15 AM 11:56 AM 1:44 PM 59
Jodhpur 10:08 AM 11:47 AM 1:35 PM 91
Kandla 09:59 AM 11:35 AM 1:24 PM 85
K’kumari 10:17 AM 11:41 AM 1:15 PM 33
Kochi 10:10 AM 11:38 AM 1:17 PM 40
Kolkata 10:46 AM 12:35 PM 2:17 PM 72
Leh 10:29 AM 12:06 PM 1:47 PM 87
Lucknow 10:26 AM 12:11 PM 1:58 PM 88
Mt. Abu 10:05 AM 11:44 AM 1:34 PM 87
Mumbai 10:00 AM 11:37 AM 1:27 PM 70
Naini Tal 10:25 AM 12:08 PM 1:54 PM 96
Nanded 10:11 AM 11:53 AM 1:42 PM 66
New Delhi 10:19 AM 12:01 PM 1:48 PM 95
Port Blair 11:15 AM 12:53 PM 2:18 PM 39
Pune 10:02 AM 11:40 AM 1:30 PM 67
Rajkot 09:59 AM 11:35 AM 1:25 PM 82
Shilong 10:57 AM 12:46 PM 2:24 PM 83
Srinagar 10:23 AM 11:59 AM 1:40 PM 86
Trivandrum 10:14 AM 11:39 AM 1:15 PM 35
Udaipur 10:07 AM 11:47 AM 1:36 PM 86
