Over-cast sky prevents clear view of annular solar eclipse

An overcast sky prevented a clear view of the annular solar eclipse in the city and elsewhere in West Bengal on Thursday as hundreds gathered at science centres and open ground to watch the celestial event.

In Kolkata, the eclipse began at 08:26:55 am and was seen 38 per cent at 10:45 am due to overcast sky and 45 per cent at 10:52 am when the cloud cover lifted, an official of Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), a science museum under the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), said.

"While the cloud partially obstructed view at 8:36 am, at 10:45 am 38 per cent of the sun was seen, while 45 per cent was seen at 10:52 am, a little before the eclipse was to end at 11:32 am," he said.

"When the cloud cover prevented a view of the eclipse through filter-fitted telescope and special viewing glasses, we showed live feeds from southern parts of the country where the sky was clearer for the enthusiastic students and their guardians who assembled at the BITM premises," he said.

Director of M P Birla Planetarium Debiprasad Duari said in a statement the annular solar eclipse was seen along a narrow patch of 118 km in the southern part of the country from the west to the east coast.

The rest of the country observed a partial eclipse of different magnitude at different places depending on the geographical position but the cloud cover prevented a better view in many parts of the city and elsewhere in the state, Duari said.

Apart from India, the eclipse was visible in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

The next annular solar eclipse will be visible from India along a narrow path along Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Punjab and Uttarakhand on June 21, 2020, the renowned astrophysicist said.