The people of Kasaragod district will have a rare opportunity of witnessing the December 26 solar eclipse first among all Indians.
Cheruvathur here is one of the three places in the world where the eclipse will be most clearly seen.
District Collector Sajith Babu says the district administration would make arrangements for the public to watch the eclipse at Kadakkottu in Cheruvathur.
The schedule
The partial eclipse will begin at 8.04 a.m. when the moon touches the sun’s edge. At 9.24 a.m. the annular phase starts and the full eclipse would be visible by then.
At 9.26 a.m., the maximum eclipse would occur, when the moon is closest to the centre of the sun. By 9.27 a.m. the full eclipse will end and by 11.05 a.m. the moon will leave the edges of the sun, ending the partial eclipse. The total eclipse will last for 3.12 minutes.
The annular solar eclipse is fully visible in Cheruvathur. Observers can experience the ‘ring of fire’ that is characteristic for this kind of solar eclipse. This is a rare event that can be experienced only along a relatively narrow strip on the earth’s surface.
The eclipse is also visible in other areas, but the moon does not move centrally in front of the sun there and the ‘ring of fire’ is not visible. Partial eclipses will be seen from Mangaluru to Beypore.
“The eclipse will start in Qatar, the UAE, Oman and due to its geological positioning, Cheruvathur will be the first place in India where it will be very visible,” said Sachin Bamba of Space India, which works in the field of astronomy education. The organisation will make arrangements here for watching the eclipse.
The solar eclipse will be visible in areas such as Mathamangalam, Panniyur, Peravoor, Meenangadi and Chulliyode in Kannur and Wayanad districts.
A warning
The Collector warned the public not to watch the eclipse with the naked eye. As it is dark during the eclipse, people will come out and look at the sun without any protection to their eyes. “Within minutes the eclipse will end and rays will fall on their eyes. A large number of sun rays will be emitted immediately after the total eclipse and this can adversely affect your eyesight,” he said.
