Karnataka braces for viewing annual solar eclipse today

BENGALURU: Sky gazers, astronomers and space buffs are gearing up to watch the annual solar eclipse in Karnataka on Thursday with fingers crossed as a cloudy sky may play spoilsport, an official said on Wednesday.

“Solar eclipse will occur over Karnataka for around three hours from 8.06 a.m. to 11.11 a.m. but its visibility will depend on the weather as cloudy sky may mar its clear viewing,” said Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium Director Pramod Galgali.

The planetarium here has made arrangements for safe viewing of the celestial event when the new moon passes between earth and sun, causing a “ring of fire” at 9.29 a.m., but Galgali said the visibility would be about 90 per cent over Bengaluru.

“The solar eclipse over Bengaluru will be partial as the moon passes in front of the sun, covering 90 per cent of it. It will be visible if the sky is cleared of passing clouds on a wintery day,” he said. When moon is on the same path between earth and sun, it will cover the centre of sun, which will result in a ring of fire being seen. The planetarium has set up 5 telescopes to project the sun’s image on to a screen so that viewers can follow all the stages of the eclipse. “Image of the sun produced by a telescope fitted with a special filter known as HI filter will be displayed on an LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor,” noted Galgali. (IANS)

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