Last Solar Eclipse Of The Decade Today; Timing, Places, Precautions & All You Need To Know

The eclipse will be seen as ring of fire around the sun, and in some parts as partial solar eclipse.

(Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty Images )

New Delhi: Parts of world, including India will be able to witness a solar eclipse on Thursday (December 26), which will be the last solar eclipse of the decade. The eclipse will be seen as ring of fire around the sun, and in some parts as partial solar eclipse. Solar Eclipse: A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse takes place when the moon's apparent diameter is smaller than that of the Sun's and blocks most of the Sun's light. This causes the Sun to look like a ring (annulus) of fire, Debiprosad Duari, the Director, Research and Academic of MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, MP Birla Planetarium, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Timing: The Solar eclipse is going to last for five and a half hours from 7:59 am till 1:35 pm. It is after 58 years that solar eclipse will take place for such a long duration. In India , it will last till 10:57 am. Also catch News' exclusive coverage of annual solar eclipse: https://news.abplive.com/live-tv Places where solar eclipse will be visible: Thursday's eclipse will be visible in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. Population centers in the path of the annularity include Udhagamandalam, Kozhikode, Coimbatore, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Singapore, Singkawang and Guam, Duari said. In the Indian sub-continent, the annularity phases will be seen within a narrow path grazing the southern Indian peninsula through Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu before crossing the Bay of Bengal for northern Sri Lanka. Aslo watch: First visuals of solar eclipse from Ahmedabad First visuals of solar eclipse from Kerala, watch here Witness last solar eclipse of the decade today: Main highlights The people of the southern part of the country will be fortunate to see a greater part of the partial solar eclipse because of the geometry of the eclipse path. But every Indian will get an opportunity to see at least a partial eclipse. In India the maximum duration of the annularity phases will be just over 3 minutes, he said. The beginning of the eclipse can be first seen from the Arabian sea coast of Oman at around 7:59 hours IST and the annular eclipse will become first visible in west of Baharain at 09:06 hours IST Sky gazers should use safe viewing equipment: When the annular solar eclipse takes place on December 26, sky watchers should use safe viewing equipment and proper techniques to view the celestial event as the infrared and ultraviolet rays of the Sun can cause severe retinal damage, a senior astronomer has said. One should not look at the Sun directly for even a little period without proper protection. Even when 99 per cent of the surface of the Sun is covered by the moon during partial eclipse, the remaining light is still intense enough to damage the eye, Debiprosad Duari said. Also check: 17 Ranji Trophy Matches Affected Due To Solar Eclipse Proper solar filters with certified appropriate optical density against radiation which are safe to the eyes should be used in front optical devices and the naked eye, he said. Aluminised mylar films of approved thickness and transmittivity coated with black polymer are the safest for use in solar goggles that one generally uses for eclipse viewing, he said. Welders glass number 14 is a safe material as solar filter for direct viewing of the solar disc, the researcher said. According to him, the best method to view the solar eclipse will be to use a pinhole camera or a telescopic projection on a suitable surface. Use of unsafe filters like smoked glass, polarising filter, sun glasses, photographic neutral density filters, colour films are not advised to view the solar phenomenon, he said. (with inputs from PTI)