Thursday, July 16, 2009

Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15 2010

This would be a much looking-forward event for all those who are interested in Astronomy and Science in general. The biggest news is that the first Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 will take place precisely on the Friday, the 15th of January 2010.

Luckily sun will cast moon's silhouette in a root which would be some 300 km in width, whereas the path travels a half of the Earth's circumference. Literally this means that the moon's shadow will travel more than 20,000 km across the earth, giving the earthlings a fine chance to witness a solar eclipse.

As per the calculations antumbral lunar shadow will commence its journey from Africa, hovering upon Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia in the African continent. Then the path will approach Indian Ocean. The eclipse is expected to reach its maximum duration of annularity, which would be 11 minutes and 08 seconds. Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15 2010

Sri Lanka & India (South India) simultaneously will be the first Asian lands that are kissed by the eclipse. Then the central path will continue through Bangladesh, Burma, and China giving observers and scientists a life time experience.

However a partial eclipse is also observed within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral silhouette. The possible areas include eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia.