Cloudy skies play spoilsport as rare ‘ring of fire’ appears
AT THE SOLSTICE In a ring-like eclipse, the moon is unable to completely cover the sun
nNEW DELHI: Cloudy skies played spoilsport for star gazers who came out to witness the annular solar eclipse in the national capital on Sunday. Many complained that they could not get a clear view of the eclipse due to the overcast in Delhi, owing to the pre-monsoon showers.
Around 10.20am on Sunday when the sun started appearing like a ‘ring of fire’ in the cloud, many people who were anxiously waiting to view this rare sight complained of low visibility because of a cloudy sky.
Unlike in a total eclipse, the moon in an annular, or ring-like, eclipse is unable to completely cover the sun, leaving a thin halo of light at its maximum phase. Such an eclipse happens when the moon is farther away in its elliptical orbit around the Earth, appearing smaller as a result.
OP Sharma from Delhi’s Nehru Planetarium, where arrangements were made to watch the eclipse, said that because of Covid-19 the planetarium restricted the entry of general public but hosted scientists, researchers and media houses. The eclipse was also broadcast live on TV channels for the convenience of the people.
“The sun, moon and the earth come in a straight line but because of the distance between the moon and the sun, the moon did not completely cover the sun and that is how we saw the ring of fire,” explained Sharma.
At 12.10pm, Delhi saw 94% obscuration of the sun by the moon. Sunday was also a rare occasion because it was day of the summer solstice, the first day of the summer. June 21 also marked the longest day of the year. The summer solstice occurs between June 20 and 22 every year.
Solar eclipses on the summer solstice are rare. The last one was in June 2001. According to a
Reuters report which quoted NASA data, a “ring of fire” eclipse that falls exactly in midsummer - whether in the northern or southern hemisphere - is even more uncommon. There have been none in at least 100 years.
The next one is in 2039, and then in 2392.
Rakesh Kumar, an astronomy enthusiast, said he had arranged for a telescope in terrace of his house to witness the eclipse but the overcast skies did not allow a clear view.
“I could witness it because the telescope wasn’t powerful enough and view was not very clear too. There were people who were trying to click pictures through their cameras and got a hazy photo because of the clouds,” Kumar said.
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Delhi witnessed a cloudy morning and afternoon on Sunday with light rain in some parts of the city.
“We have been witnessing cloudy skies because of pre-monsoon showers. This meant that even though the eclipse was visible, it was not very clear,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’S regional weather forecasting centre.