Solar eclipse adds to Diwali light show

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Citizens of the city witnessed a partial solar eclipse on Tuesday, which lasted for 45 minutes. Some eclipses are famously known for appearing during the festival of lights like they have been in the past, once on October 17 in 1762 and again on October 24 back in 1995.

Telescopes were installed for astronomy enthusiasts in order to view the celestial event at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium. The eclipse was visible from 5.12 pm to 5.55 pm. Bengaluru saw an obscuration of 10.09 per cent followed by Mysuru at 9.16 per cent.

In Bellary it was 14.82 per cent and at Aumbe it was 12.11 per cent. According to RC Kapoor, former professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, the eclipse emerged towards the later part of the day and the visibility of the eclipse was minimal in Bengaluru, but most of the country viewed it without much hassle except a few areas in some northeastern states, he said.

The Planetarium sold special safety glasses in view of the solar eclipse, charging Rs 30 per goggles. The package came with a simple game to intrigue young minds by taking them through the concepts of the eclipse in a fun way. Videos of the solar eclipse are available on Youtube for ones who could not catch it live.

The solar eclipse of October 25 was deemed as a partial solar eclipse and was visible from Europe, the Urals, Western Siberia, Central Asia, Western Asia, South Asia and parts of Northeast Africa. A solar eclipse takes place when the moon comes in between the Sun and Earth, blocking the light from the Sun and casting a shadow on Earth.