Fasts, postponed deliveries, eclipse packages... Alisha Coelho finds if there's meaning to the madness as city readies for the century's longest solar eclipse tomorrow
Fasts, postponed deliveries, eclipse packages... Alisha Coelho finds if there's meaning to the madness as city readies for the century's longest solar eclipse tomorrow
At least 1.36 crore eyeballs in this city will look to the skies tomorrow as the longest solar eclipse of this century takes centre stage. If you don't view it now, you will never see it again in your lifetime.
The next complete solar eclipse that lasts for as long 6 minutes, 39 secondsu00a0 can be viewed 123 years later.
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Piyush Pandey, director of Nehru Planetarium, has jetted to Robertsganj in Uttar Pradesh.
"It was clear skies until a day ago, but unfortunately we've had some rain now. We hope that it won't be like this during the eclipse," said Pandey.
Milind Kale of Khagol Mandal, an amateur astronomers' club, is keeping his fingers crossed as he leaves for Nandurbar in north Maharashtra, which will have a 100 per cent view.
Chartered passengers aboard the Cox and Kings eclipse flight won't have to worry. "Our very aim of introducing such a flight was to ensure that passengers get a close up and view even if it rains.
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We will be cruising at an altitude of 41,000 feet above sea level, above the cloud cover so no one will miss the phenomenon.
Our sun side flight passenger seats have entirely sold out and there's a sizeable number of people on the earth side. We're expecting great things tomorrow," said spokesperson CTT Thomas.
Sun side seats cost Rs 79,000 and earth side one's Rs 29,000.
Babies on hold
Predictably, babies due today have to hold out a little longer. "I have a patient whose due date is on the 24th, but she didn't want to be induced tomorrow either since the eclipse would already have started.
My patients are putting into place superstitious practices like not leaving the house, lying flat, not cutting any fruit or vegetable or even another that requires a thread of the length of the pregnant woman to be hung at her side at all times during the eclipse," said Dr G N Mansukhani, heads the obstetrics-gynecology department at Jaslok Hospital.
Sun Block
Exposure to the retina during the eclipse is more because it's easier to look at the sun without turning away immediately as we do normally.
As the retina is not sensitive to pain, the pupils dilate letting in more radiation causing retinal burns.
View to a Thrill
Use special eclipse viewing glasses, a pinhole camera or a number 14 welding glass. Do not use photography film or X-ray film.
Do not view the sun for more than 20 seconds even with protection. Nehru Planetarium sells special viewing spectacles priced at Rs 10.
Dec 31, '09
Partial lunar eclipse visible from Mumbai
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100% View From...
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Astronomers from Khogal Mandal leaving
for Nandurbar to view eclipse.
PIC/ Sameer Markhande
Patna, Bhopal, Indore, Gaya, Varanasi, Bhavnagar, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Sibsagar, Surat, Ujjain, Vadodara, Bankipore, Bharuch, Chhapra, Chhatarpur, Coochbehar, Daltonganj, Daman, Darbhanga, Dibrugarh, Gangtok, Itanagar, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Katihar, Khandwa, Maihar, Mirzapur, Muzaffarpur, Panchmarhi, Purnia, Rewa, Sagar, Siliguri, Silvassa and Vidisha.
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In Mumbai and Nashik, the solar eclipse begins at 5.55 am and the exact time of eclipse is at 6.22 am. The eclipse ends at 7.19 am.
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