By IANS,
Lucknow : A large number of people, from students to homemakers, waiting to see the annular solar eclipse in the Uttar Pradesh capital, had to wait for over an hour as a thick cloud cover obscured the view of the celestial spectacle.
“The eclipse that started at 11.57 a.m., could be viewed only around 1 p.m,, due to the cloud cover,” Anil Yadav, officer in charge of the Indira Gandhi Planetarium, told IANS.
“Nearly 52 per cent of the eclipse was visible in the city (Lucknow). It (eclipse) was at peak at 1:45 p.m. and remained till 3:18 p.m.,” he said, adding an annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is farther from the earth than the usual distance.
“Due to this, the apparent size of the moon is not enough to cover the sun completely,” Yadav said.
Scientific institutions and schools in Lucknow had made elaborate arrangements – from acquiring special goggles to installing telescopes – for people to watch the annular solar eclipse.
“It is for the first time I am viewing the solar eclipse with the scientific equipment. The practical experience was really exciting,” said Mohhamad Abbas Mehdi, a class 6 student of the St. Joseph School.
It was not only the students but people of various age groups who thronged the planetarium and other places that had made arrangements for viewing the annular solar eclipse.
“Initially, I thought we would not be able to view the rare annular solar eclipse due to a thick cover of clouds. However, we now consider ourselves lucky as after some time the clouds cleared and we watched the celestial phenomenon,” Archana Kharkwal, who accompanied her eight-year-old son to the planetarium, said.
Ballia district was the best place in the state to see the spectacle with around 70 percent of the eclipse visible, while in most other parts, the visibility remained around 50 per cent. In districts like Shahjahanpur and Bareilly, nearly 45 percent of the eclipse was visible.