Solar Eclipse on August 11, 2018: Surya Grahan Timing in India and How to Watch 2018’s Last Eclipse

New Delhi: Earth will witness a partial solar eclipse on August 11 when the sun will appear to be obscured by the moon’s shadow. This will be the last eclipse to be seen in 2018.

In a total solar eclipse, the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, casting its shadow on part of Earth and completely obstructing the sun’s rays. This hides the sun for some time.

However, in a partial solar eclipse, the three are not perfectly aligned, as a result of which, only a part of the sun is obscured and the moon casts only its penumbra on Earth.

Due to the smaller size of the moon’s shadow, much of the sun will lay exposed. Because of this, the sun appears to resemble a crescent disc with a hollow centre.

While the view of the eclipse will vary from location to location, the total duration of the celestial spectacle is 3 hours and 30 minutes.

According to the trajectory charted by the Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC) map created by NASA, the observers in North Pole will be able to view 65 per cent of the eclipse and the greatest of views can be captured from the Eastern expanse of Siberia.

Unfortunately, the spectacle will persist to a limited part of the world — primarily over northern Canada, north-eastern US, Greenland, Scandinavia, most of Siberia, and some parts of central Asia – and will not be visible in India.

This is because, the Earth’s rotation will expose only a limited part of the world to the effects of a solar eclipse.

Despite the invisibility of the eclipse in India, the event can be observed through live- streams of space agencies and certain observatories. Meanwhile, great deal of caution is advised to the skygazers who will be viewing the spectacle directly.

It is extremely dangerous to observe any solar eclipse with the naked eye, given the intensity of the radiation, and the possible exposure to ultraviolet or infrared light.

Therefore, the partial solar eclipse can be caught using glasses having special filters, or through a pinhole camera.

According to www.timeanddate.com, the Aanshik Surya Grahan or Partial Solar Eclipse will begin at 1:32 pm and end at 5pm. The maximum eclipse will be seen at 3:16 pm.