By IANS,
Taregna (Bihar) : In the last three days specially designed sun goggles sold like hot cakes in Taregna village near the state capital, where the solar eclipse Wednesday will be best viewed.
“Thousands of the specially designed sun goggles were sold in Taregna area ahead of the total solar eclipse,” an official of the Indian Red Cross Society at Masaurih said Tuesday.
Birendra Kumar Sinha, a district official, told IANS here that the demand for the specially designed sun glasses was more than expected in this rural belt. “A large number of people from villages and Masaurih town purchased the specially designed sun goggles,” he said.
At Taregna railway station and in neighbouring markets, dozens of posters advised people to buy the specially designed sun goggles to view the eclipse. “We purchased half a dozen specially designed sun goggles at Rs. 20 each,” Nandu Singh, a retired government official, said.
Nandan Kumar, a school student, said his father bought three such sun glasses to view the eclipse.
Gayetri Devi, a middle aged woman, said that she had purchased ten of these sun goggles for her family members and relatives, who are coming to Taregna from Patna to watch the eclipse.
Taregna already has an ancient connection with astronomy, having been one of the two places used by 6th century Indian astronomer-mathematician Aryabhatta for his celestial studies. It is believed he was the first, after his marathon research in an observatory in Taregna, to announce that the earth revolves around the sun.
Scientists, researchers and astro-tourists from different parts of the world are expected to start arriving in the village, about 35 km from the state capital Patna, Tuesday evening ahead of the total solar eclipse Wednesday.
These include scientists from the US space agency NASA, Britain, Italy, Poland, Germany, France, as well as from the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The total eclipse, starting a little after sunrise, is expected to last three minutes and 48 seconds in Taregna. According to the NASA forecast based on satellite imagery, the sky over the region is likely to be less cloudy than at other places along the 250-km wide path of the total solar eclipse. So it may offer one of the best views of the celestial phenomenon.