Annular Solar Eclipse of December 26, 2019: Sulur (Coimbatore), Tamil Nadu, India

(Image credit: timeanddate.com)

Solar eclipse is a phenomenon when the moon hides the sun for a short period of time. A solar eclipse can be of following types: 

Total solar eclipse: when the moon completely covers the sun

Partial solar eclipse: when only a small part of the sun is covered by the moon

Annular (ring shaped) solar eclipse: when the size of the moon is smaller than the sun, so the sun appears like a bright ring around the moon

Hybrid eclipse - also called annular/total eclipse when at certain points on the earth there is a total solar eclipse, whereas in other parts it is annular

Annular Solar eclipse

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon covers the Sun's center, leaving the Sun's visible outer edges to form a "ring of fire" or annulus around the Moon.

The orbit of the moon is not exactly circular, its farthest position (Apogee) is 11% farther from the Earth than its nearest position (Perigee).

When the moon is farther away its size relative to the sun is smaller. An eclipse at this time will leave a ring of sun uncovered by the moon.

I travelled to Sulur, Tamil Nadu from Mumbai to view an eclipse. Sulur is a town located in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a suburb of Coimbatore.

Source: timeanddate.com

I reached Sulur on 25th December and seeing rainy condition & sky filled with clouds, I was considering to move to different place. But then I decided to stay back in Sulur hoping for clear sky on 26th morning. Even though sky was not clear & filled with clouds on 26th morning, it did not rain and clouds acted as a natural solar filter. For the most part of an eclipse duration, sky was filled with clouds but it provided many glimpses of an eclipse that I could capture using my mobile phone.

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