KASARAGOD: South India stood in awe as the Moon blocked the view of the Sun for around three full minutes, forming the ring of fire in the dark sky, on Thursday.“I have seen solar eclipse on YouTube. But this was spectacular,” said Unnimaya P T, a Class VII student of Government Higher Secondary School, Kuttamath near Cheruvathur in Kasaragod district. “I have not seen anything like it,” said her friend and classmate Rudraveena K.
The hilltop school’s vast ground with clear horizon was a perfect venue to watch the celestial glory.
Around 3,000 people, including residents, astro tourists, and scientists had their eyes to the sky on the ground.The annular (or ring) eclipse was visible in a 120km-wide band in the South India, grazing places such as Mangaluru, Nileshwar, Kannur, Wayanad, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Karaikudi and Tondi in Tamil Nadu, before crossing over to Bay of Bengal, said technical assistant, Justin Joseph of Regional Science Centre and Planetarium in Kozhikode. The centre set up seven eclipse viewing areas in Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod district for the public. “Wayanad was cloudy, and people missed the ring of fire in many places. In Kalpeta, people got to see for half-a- minute,” he said. Joseph was at Meenangadi in Wayanad and missed the show.
The best viewing of the solar eclipse in Kerala was in Kannur and Kasaragod districts, he said.Unlike during a total solar eclipse, the new Moon was further away from the Earth, and the apparent smaller Moon cannot completely cover Sun.It leaves out a narrow band of Sun in the periphery, which manifest as the ring of fire.
The New Moon started crossing the path of the Sun and the Earth at 8.04am in Kasaragod; the perfect ring of fire was formed at 9.24am, and lasted it 9.27am -- for around 3 minutes and 6 seconds; and the partial eclipse ended at 11.04am. The celestial spectacle lasted for three hours.
“We watched the eclipse from the Kappil Beach near Bekal. I felt a sudden chill when the light faded out. When the moon started moving away from the sun, it was temperature was up again,” said Jijo P Ulahannan, assistant professor, Department of Physics, Government College, Kasaragod.
Volunteers of Space India, an organisation popularising astronomy and space sciences, found that temperature dipped by one degree Celsius to 27, and after the eclipse, the mercury rose to 28.4 degrees Celsius. They took the reading at the Kuttamath hilltop, far from the beach.
“Interestingly, the wind speed which was in the range of 0.4 to 0.8 metres per second dropped to 0 during the ring of fire,” said Tarun Sharma, the leader of the Space India team, which was measuring various weather parametres during the eclipse at the school.
The fast-forwarding of time to ‘late evening’ confused the birds, said Kaustub Mulay, wildlife photographer from Pune. He was accompanying six astronomy enthusiasts from London, Sheffield and Bristol in the UK to watch the annular eclipse at Thaikadapuram beach in Nileshwar.Before the eclipse started, Mulay saw woodpeckers, brahminy kites and bee-eaters hovering around on the beach.“But when the light faded out, they stopped their flight and perched on the casuarina and coconut trees. There was no chirping either,” said Mulay.
Choudary D Voleti, 79, a retired cardiologist who flew down from Hawaii, was chirpy.“Now photography and tennis keep me busy,” said the doctor.“This is my second solar eclipse,” he said.
On August 21, 2017, he watched a total solar eclipse at Jackson Hole, a valley in Wyoming state of the US.“The ring of fire is a first for me,” he said.Dr Voleti used a powerful lens to capture crisp images of the Baily’s beads effect.
The beads effect is formed on the ring of fire when the peaks of mountains on the moon’s surface block the sunlight from passing through. The intermittent silhouette and light create an effect of beads on the ring.“The beads were clearer at Jackson Hole,” he said.
Cheruvathur panchayat made use of the solar eclipse to debunk some of the popular myths.
Madhavan Maniyara, panchayat president, who bought 2,000 eclipse-watching shades for visitors to Kuttamath School, also served biscuits and tea to guests.
Viewing deck for spectators
Kasaragod:The Hilltop School’s vast ground was a perfect setting to watch the celestial glory Around 7,000 people watched as the spectacle unfolded
Busting age-old myths
Kasaragod: Cheruvathur panchayat made use of the solar eclipse on Thursday to debunk some myths which have been around for ages. Madhavan Maniyara, panchayat president, who bought 2,000 eclipse-watching shades for visitors to Kuttamath School, also served biscuits and tea to guests