How to effortlessly view the solar eclipse in June 2020
How to effortlessly view the solar eclipse in June 2020
[ A blog on the universe and the cosmos above and the nature of it determined by great scientists. ]
This decade's first solar eclipse will be visible on 21st June 2020. A few tips to effortlessly view this eclipse.
- Check out if the eclipse will be visible from your location
- Check out the weather forecasts well in advance
- Wear protective gears [ solar eclipse glasses ] on your eyes while viewing the eclipse
- Check in the rise and set time of the eclipse well in advance
- When and where this eclipse is
- Tips to view this eclipse
- The importance of solar eclipse glasses
When and Where this eclipse will occur :
This phenomenon of the annular solar eclipse will be visible to a highly small area of the world as compared to the vast range of countries that were able to view the Penumbral lunar eclipse on the 5th of this very month.
Where this eclipse will be visible : This phenomenal space co - ordinance between 3 celestial bodies will be visible to countries located in :-
- The mid and northern Africa
- The whole of Asia
- The whole of Europe
- The whole of Greenland
- Very few parts of north-western North America.
Though after hearing all these places in the above list, you may feel like the eclipse is visible to almost the whole world. But that's not the case. Even though this time the eclipse can be visible from a vast part of the land, the part of the world who can see the annular solar eclipse is very thin. The countries marked in the picture below are the only ones who can see an annular solar eclipse, the other countries which I mentioned in the above list will only be experiencing a partial solar eclipse.
|
Group number |
Area |
Countries covered |
Average rise time of the eclipse |
Date |
|
1. |
Northern Africa |
Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan and Ethiopia |
6 : 10 am |
21st June |
|
2. |
Southern Africa |
Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe and some parts of South Africa |
7 : 00 |
21st June |
|
3. |
Northern Asia |
Mid and Southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia |
8 : 50 |
21st June |
|
4. |
Mid and southern Asia |
Oman, Yemen, India, Pakistan, China, Iran and Afghanistan |
8 : 20 onwards The eclipse will be at maximum at Oman and Yemen at 9 : 40 am and 8 : 05 am respectively
|
21st June |
|
5. |
Southern Europe |
Romania, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey |
7 : 50 am |
21st June |
|
6. |
Other countries |
Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines and surrounding countries |
For Vietnam, the eclipse begins at 1 : 40 pm
For the other countries in the group, the eclipse may begin at / around 3 : 40 pm |
21st June |
The highlighted countries in the above list have the highest chance of viewing a annular solar eclipse. The others may not be able to see a annular eclipse but have a sure chance of witnessing a partial solar eclipse
When this eclipse will be visible : The time at which the eclipse will be visible is always different for different countries. I have mentioned the countries which may have a possibility of viewing the solar eclipse on 21st in the above table. But however, if your specific country is not mentioned in it then you can consider the rise timing as 3: 30 am and the set time of the eclipse to be 10:34 am. These timings are according to Coordinated Universal Time [ UTC ]. These timings are the ones at which the the whole eclipse will be visible. However, the time period in which the complete annular eclipse will be visible is very small.
The UTC is a universally coordinated time, so the actual time in your watch and the UTC will differ to some extent so you will have to check out what time is in your country. You can check it on google by typing in the UTC timing given above and ask the search engine to convert it into your country's standard time.
 |
| Difference of time between Universal Coordinated Time and Indian Standard Time |
Tips to view this eclipse :
Viewing a annular solar eclipse is a very easy task. All you have to do is look up in the sky. Bu there are a few points that you need to take into consideration before viewing a solar eclipse. So I have mentioned 5 important points that you should remember before viewing a solar eclipse. DO read all the points, as it will be beneficial for you.
- location
- urbanization
- protective gearing
- rise and set time
- weather
Location : Location is something you should check out before any other planning for viewing any sort of eclipse. The reason behind this is that eclipses are the shadow cast on earth when the sun, earth, and the moon are in this very chronological order and are aligned straight at 180 degrees. This leads to the shadow of the moon being cast on earth.
However, this shadow is very small and is concentrated only in a certain area of the planet. So you should first check out if the eclipse is visible from your place. You can scroll the page a bit up and see the table presented. I then want you to see if the country you are located in is mentioned in the table. Or else, you can scroll a bit up and see the picture of a map. On that map, see if your country is marked on the black line or if your country lies between the yellow and black lines. If yes, then you will be able to view the eclipse from your location.
Urbanization : Urbanization can be a bit of trouble while viewing an eclipse. If you are living in a city which has lots of pollution, then viewing can be a bit hazy. But now a days that's no more a problem. The real problem arises if you are living in a space where you are surrounded by tall skyscrapers which completely block your view of the sun. For this you can move to your building terrace or can move to a open space or ground [ don't violate lockdown rules to go to ground and view eclipse ]
Even if you are not able to view the sun disc because of tall buildings and other factors and nor are you allowed to get access the above options, you can still see a abrupt darkness in the sky and confusion between animals and birds.
Protective Gearing : Protective gears are not very important while viewing lunar eclipses or any sub type of lunar eclipse ( Partial Lunar eclipse and Penumbral lunar eclipse ) but because it is a solar eclipse on 21st of June, having good protective gears is very important.
When the sun and the earth are perfectly aligned at 180 degrees, there is more amount UV rays which are focused at earth. Today during pollution and green house effects, the ozone layer which protects are planet's surface from UV rays is also getting damaged and has holes in it.
Now with more UV rays focused on earth and holes in ozone layer, more UV rays reach the surface of earth. Even if the ozone didn't have any holes, the probability of the UV rays being 2 or 3 times more intense is extraordinarily high. If you see the sun disc directly in such circumstances, then it may lead to UV rays reaching your eye and the inner part of the eye like retina and dealing severe damage which could cause permanent loss of eyesight.
Rise and Set time : There are specific timings for each eclipse. These timings are called as rise time and set time. As the name suggests, rise time is the time at which the actual eclipse begins. Yes, the eclipse doesn't begin right from the time of the sun [ solar eclipse ] or moon [ lunar eclipse ] rise. There is a specific time period in which the eclipse occurs. Similar to the rise time of eclipse. there is also a term called as set time. The set time refers to the time at which the eclipse ends.
So it is important to refer the rise and set time of the eclipse. There is absolutely no reason to start gazing the sun right from the time of sunrise. Solar eclipses are more rare than lunar eclipses, have a very short range of visibility and last for a very short amount of time. The last point of these type of eclipses being short makes it even more important to be precise about the rise and set timings. The longest ever recorded solar eclipse lasted for about 7 minutes.
Weather : As I mentioned above, urbanization can cause a block in your view during a eclipse, similarly the weather can also be equally responsible for ruining your plans. Weather conditions like intense sun or strong winds is not something you should be worrying about. Its actually the clouds which make it difficult to view the sun disc.
So I would recommend you'll to check out the weather prediction of 21st June well in advance. But weather predictions are not 100% precise. Clouds can still ruin your plans despite the weather report suggesting a clear sky. So the only thing to do is push your luck and be patient.
The importance of solar eclipse glasses :
Solar eclipse viewing glasses are very important if you want to view a solar eclipse. As I mentioned above, when sun and earth are perfectly aligned along an angle of 180 degrees, there are more UV rays [ ultraviolet rays emitted by sun ] which are concentrated / focused towards the earth. If you don't know about UV rays, then I have a different article in which I have covered about UV rays, just click here to view that page.
There is a special layer in the atmosphere which is known as the ozone layer. This ozone layer absorbs these harmful ray released by the sun and prevents them from reaching earth. But still there is a small proportion of UV rays that make it to the surface of the earth. These are the same rays given out by sun which causes sunburns and may even cause different types of cancer.
Because at the time of solar eclipse, the proportion of UV rays focused on earth is very high as compared to the normal proportion, more amount of rays reach the earth's surface. Due o this, viewing a solar eclipse from your house is really good idea. But you also need to protect your eyes through which you will see the eclipse from the UV rays.
If these UV rays reach up to your eyes, they cause serve damage to your eyesight and may even cause permanent loss of eyesight. They can also damage your nerves near the eyes if the reach the retina and the other internal parts of your eyes.
Due to this reason, it is very important to wear solar eclipse glasses while viewing a solar eclipse. These glasses are special glasses which filter out the UV rays and prevent them from reaching your eyes. This way you can easily view the solar eclipse without your eyes being damaged. So you should buy a pair of these glasses well in advance if you want to view a solar eclipse. But on the other hand, you can view a lunar eclipse without such glasses. Viewing lunar eclipse with naked eye won't damage your eye.
 |
| example of solar eclipse glasses: credit - commons.Wikimedia.org |
So everyone, that's all for today's blog. If you'll want to know more about the occurrence of eclipses then you on click on these links to go to other 2 articles written by me on the occurrence of eclipses
click here to read article on how lunar eclipses occur !
click here to read article on how solar eclipses occur !
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