A 'ring of fire' solar eclipse will light up the sky today: Timings, visibility in India
New Delhi, June 10: Get ready for the first-ever solar eclipse of 2021, also called ring of fire solar eclipse on June 10. The astronomical event will be visible from parts of Russia, Greenland, and northern Canada. Those in Northern Asia, Europe, and the United States will see a partial eclipse. People in India will miss out on the annular solar eclipse but you can watch the celestial event online.
What is a ring of fire solar eclipse?
According to NASA, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth, fully or partially blocking the Sun's light in some areas. During an annular eclipse, the Moon is far enough away from Earth that the Moon appears smaller than the Sun in the sky. Since the Moon does not block the entire view of the Sun, it will look like a dark disk on top of a larger, bright disk. This creates what looks like a ring of fire around the Moon. People in parts of Canada, Greenland, and northern Russia will experience the annular eclipse.
In some places, viewers won't get to see this ring around the Moon. They'll instead experience a partial solar eclipse. This happens when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are not exactly lined up. The Sun will appear to have a dark shadow on only part of its surface.
Viewers in parts of the eastern United States and northern Alaska will see a partial solar eclipse on June 10, along with much of Canada and parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.
In the United States, the partial eclipse will be visible along parts of the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and in Northern Alaska. In many of these locations, the eclipse will occur before, during, and shortly after sunrise. This means that viewers will need to get a clear view of the horizon during sunrise in order to see the eclipse, NASA said.
Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse 2021: Time and Visibility
On June 10, the solar eclipse will begin at 1:42 pm IST (8:12 UTC) and will end at 6:41 pm (13:11 UTC), according to Timeanddate.com. The celestial event will last for about 100 minutes. The solar eclipse is expected to begin from Canada, then moves towards the polar region.
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The greatest eclipse will be visible in northern Greenland at its local time and likely to end at sunset over northeastern Siberia. The much awaited 'ring of fire' will last a maximum of 3 minutes 51 seconds in the path of annularity.
In India, skygazers can see a very small part of the solar eclipse from the vicinity of Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh at around 5:52 pm. In the northern part of Ladakh, where the sun will set at around 6.15 pm, the last phases of the phenomenon can be seen at around 6 pm.
First, the partial eclipse will start at around 11:42 am Indian Standard Time and the annular eclipse will appear to occur from 3:30 pm and will continue up to 4:52 pm, though for different intervals for a particular region, depending upon one's geographical location.
The partial eclipse will end at around 6:41 pm IST.
How to watch ring of fire eclipse?
Do not look at the Sun directly as it could be harmful to the retina of the eye. Instead, you can use binoculars to watch the eclipse.
If you are not in the areas where the eclipse is visible, you can watch the celestial event online.TimeandDate and Slooh will be streaming the eclipse live on their YouTube. You can also follow the path of the eclipse using the NASA tracker.
When is the next solar eclipse?
A total solar eclipse will occur on December 4, 2021. Mot of South Australia, southern Africa, South in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica would witness the celestial event.
How often does a solar eclipse happen?
Undoubtedly, eclipses excite more interest than any other event in astronomy. But, how rare are these events? Total solar eclipses, are often called rare occurrence. That seems to be a popular misconception. On an average, a total solar eclipse occurs on every 18 months.
That means two totalities for every three years. The occurrence of the eclipse depends on the particular calendar years. Every year, one can witness two solar eclipses.
The maximum number of solar eclipses that can take place in the same year is five, but this is rare.