The blowy wind over Kolkata has somewhat ebbed in the evening bringing cheer to many souls across the city. The grand spectacle is just a little more than a day away, and the enthusiasts are bracing up to watch it.
The total solar eclipse is said to be the last that can be seen from India in this century. Actually there will be one on March 20, 2034, 25 years from today. But the moon’s shadow then will pass through a tiny portion of land in J&K.
That will be a non-event for most Indians, and so hope rests squarely on July 22 eclipse. After March, 2034 India’s turn to witness the celestial event comes on June 3, 2114, 105 years from today.
Gina Alzate in her article says that the July 22 eclipse will be the longest the Earth will experience in the 21st century until June 13, 2132. That really makes this eclipse very, very special indeed.
To quote from The Telegraph, the obscuration in the Calcutta sky will be about 90 per cent starting at 5.28am and ending at 7.30am. The maximum eclipse in Calcutta will be at 6.26am, when the sun will be obscured by 90.2 per cent. At the maximum phase of the eclipse in Calcutta, the sun will be at an altitude of about 17 degrees from the eastern horizon.
The eclipse will be visible from large parts of Japan, and that has prompted EclipseOfTheCentury.Com to promote a 6-night-cruise aboard the Costa Allegra from 16-24 July touching China, South Korea and Japan. Predictably all the tickets are sold out long back.
Here is a graphic (taken from The Telegraph) of the likely trail of the moon’s shadow as it passes over India, and below that is an animated video of the solar eclipse of July 22, 2009.
Readers are welcome to send pictures and/or their experience of the momentous event. Here is wishing you all the best.
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