By IANS,
Kanyakumari/Rameshwaram : Thousands of people converged on beaches and at science centres in Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram and Danushkodi in Tamil Nadu and watched the ‘Ring of Fire’ formed during the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium Friday.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon’s shadow is smaller than the visible disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a ‘Ring of Fire’, with its rays spread out from the dark outline of the moon.
“It is a wonderful and enjoyable experience,” I.M. Thaya, an engineering student of Coimbatore Institute of Technology who had come to Kanyakumari to watch the spectacle, told IANS.
“It is evening at noon,” another skygazer said.
The eclipse that began around 11.05 a.m. at Kanyakumari, the southern-most tip of the Indian subcontinent, progressed steadily and peaked to reach the annular image at 1.10 p.m. The last time India saw this ‘Ring of Fire’ was Nov 22, 1965, and it will not witness such a phenomenon again before June 21, 2020.
“Around 20,000 people watched the eclipse at the centre specially set up in Kanyakumari. Students who measured parameters like intensity of light, temperature, relative humidity and the apparent size of the moon and sun yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday) didn’t find any major difference between the two readings. It goes to prove nothing changes during an eclipse,” P. Iyamperumal, executive director of the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre in Chennai, said from Kanyakumari.
People watched the eclipse sporting special goggles, through telescopes, mirror or pin hole reflections as there were public announcements warning people not to view the sun with naked eyes.
The special glasses sold for Rs.5 in the morning, but with the pogresing eclipse sellers also jacked up the glasses’ price to Rs.40 a pair.
In order to dispel the long-held belief that eating during an eclipse is harmful, some scientists encouraged people to have food.
B. Dasgupta, scientific officer at the M.P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, was in Rameshwaram to watch the phenomenon and he warned against viewing the eclipse with the naked eye.
“People may not suffer immediately but there will be long-term impact,” he said.
Though the view from nearby Danushkodi was the best, Dasgupta decided to stay put at Rameshwaram as he was unsure of the power supply situation in Danushkodi.
“I am recording the entire eclipse and didn’t want to take any risks,” he said.
At the eclipse peak, the temperature came down in Rameshwaram while the sea was bit rough and the wind was gusty, he added.
The other places where the eclipse was visible in Tamil Nadu were Madurai, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Arantangi, Chidambaram and Kumbakonam, among others.
In Chennai, people visited the Birla Planetarium to witness the eclipse while many sat indoors to watch it on television.
Most of the temples in Tamil Nadu, including the Nava Graha temples in Thanjavur district, were closed since morning. The sun temple, where special prayers and rituals were conducted, was, however, open during the eclipse.