What is a solar eclipse?

• Occurs when the Moon is positioned in between the Sun and the Earth for a few minutes.
• Under certain-alignment, the Moon partially or fully blocks the Sun’s light and instead casts its shadow on Earth.
  • That is why, there can be a partial or a total solar eclipse, depending on how much portion of the Sun’s disc gets hidden by the Moon.
• In a partial solar eclipse, only the edge of the Moon’s shadow falls on the northern hemisphere, which is where Tuesday’s eclipse will be visible.

From where will the partial solar eclipse be visible?

• The partial solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Europe, western Asia and northeast Africa. Most of India, except the southern-most areas, can witness the Sun’s partial eclipse on Tuesday.

  

• The maximum eclipse of the Sun, of about 55 per cent, will be viewed from the extreme northern India regions around Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir (see box below).

What time is the solar eclipse?

• Based on where it is being viewed from India, the start, maximum eclipse, and end time can vary.

Back to Basics

Types of Solar Eclipses

There are 4 different types of solar eclipses. How much of the Sun’s disk is eclipsed, the eclipse magnitude, depends on which part of the Moon’s shadow falls on Earth.

1. Partial solar eclipses occur when the Moon only partially obscures the Sun’s disk and casts only its penumbra on Earth.
2. Annular solar eclipses take place when the Moon’s disk is not big enough to cover the entire disk of the Sun, and the Sun’s outer edges remain visible to form a ring of fire in the sky. An annular eclipse of the Sun takes place when the Moon is near apogee, and the Moon’s antumbra falls on Earth.
3. Total solar eclipses happen when the Moon completely covers the Sun, and it can only take place when the Moon is near perigee, the point of the Moon’s orbit closest to Earth. You can only see a total solar eclipse if you’re in the path where the Moon casts its darkest shadow, the umbra.
4. Hybrid Solar Eclipses, also known as annular-total eclipses, are the rarest type. They occur when the same eclipse changes from an annular to a total solar eclipse, and/or vice versa, along the eclipse’s path.

Solar Eclipses Mainly Look Partial

• Only visible from within the area on Earth where the Moon’s shadow falls, and the closer you are to the center of the shadow’s path, the bigger the eclipse looks.
• Usually named for their darkest, or maximum, point. The exception is the hybrid eclipse.
• The darkest point is only visible from a small area. In most places and for most of the duration, total, annular, and hybrid eclipses look like a partial solar eclipse.

Only around New Moon

• For a solar eclipse to take place, the Sun, the Moon, and Earth must be aligned in a perfect or near perfect straight line. A rough alignment of the three bodies happens every lunar month, at the New Moon.

Reference

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/india-partial-solar-eclipse-explained-8229028/

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar-eclipse.html

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