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A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth.
The Solar Eclipses come in four variants, namely Total Eclipse, Annular Eclipse, Hybrid Eclipse and Partial Eclipse, all different yet wonderful. Of the four the Total and Annular Eclipses are widely held as the rarest and most spectacular.
Annular solar eclipse as observed from Thrissur in Kerala on Friday, January 15, 2010.
People in Kavaratti island in Lakshadweep were the first to see the beginning of eclipse at 10.55 am whereas at Dibrugarh in Assam, people were one of the last to see the beginning (at 12.29 pm) of the eclipse.
The eclipse lasted the maximum in Rameshwaram - 10 minutes and eight seconds. As the eclipse passed through different places, the duration lessened. In Kanyakumari, the eclipse was for around nine minutes. Also, the eclipse began at different times in different places.
The annular solar eclipse of this year is the best until the year 2019, as the next solar eclipse on January 4 in 2011 will be visible to people in Northern parts of the country and few places in Gujarat, whereas the solar eclipse in 2016 though visible in India begins and lasts only for few minutes close to horizon in early hours of March 9.
G Rithika
Class V ,
Bhavan's Atmakuri Rama Rao School,
Hyderabad
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