Kolkata, Apr 25 (PTI) There will be a partial solar eclipse on April 30 and a total lunar eclipse on May 16 but neither of the two celestial phenomena will be visible from the city and its neighbourhood, astrophysicist Debi Prasad Duari said.
The city will, however, be able witness the next partial solar eclipse on October 25 and the partial lunar eclipse on November 8, he said. The April 30 partial solar eclipse will be seen from the south and south-western parts of South America, Pacific and Atlantic oceans and most of the land mass of Antartica but will not be visible from this part of the world, the former director of M P Birla Planetarium said.
“People in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia or in Antartica can see the phenomenon. The solar eclipse always starts at one location and because of the spinning of the Earth ends at another location,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
The partial solar eclipse will begin around 6.45 p m universal time which will be May 1, 00:15 a m IST. The maximum for India will be around 2.11 a m on May 1 and end at 4.07 a m. As it will be night time in this country, no one will be see the cosmic event, he explained.
The situation will be the reverse during the May 16 lunar eclipse as it will take place the daytime.
It will start at 7.02 a m Indian Standard Time and the total eclipse will begin at around 7.57 a m. The maximum eclipse will be around 9.41 a m when the Moon will be at the deepest part of Earth’s shadow and the total eclipse will end at 10.23 a m.
The partial phase of the eclipse will end by 11.25 a m, he said.
Sky lovers, enthusiasts and amateur astronomers in India will be missing the “show” since it will happen during the daytime when the moon itself will not be present in the Indian skies, he elaborated.
This eclipse, either in its totality or at its partial phases can be seen in southern and western parts of Europe and Asia, Africa large parts of North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions and parts of Antartica, Duari said.
The city will see the partial solar eclipse on October 25 albeit for a very brief period just before sunset, Duari said in a statement.
The degree of the eclipse visible from Kolkata will be small as the obscuration of the solar disc will be at the most four per cent at the maximum, he said.
The November 8 total lunar eclipse will not be seen in its entirety from this part of the country, he said.
“From Kolkata it will be not be visible in its entirety, but again partially that also just from the moon rise. The total phase will occur when the moon is below the horizon at Kolkata,” he said.
A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when the it comes between the Earth and the Sun. It then partially or totally blocks the Sun from the Earth for some time.
A lunar eclipse occurs on a full moon night when the cosmic satellite passes through the shadow of the Earth. PTI SUS KK KK KK
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