Partial solar eclipse 2019: World witnesses first ever eclipse of New Year 2019

Though not visible in India, the partial eclipse was visible in parts of northeast Asia and the North Pacific.

A partial solar eclipse is observed in Tokyo on January 6, 2019. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

New Delhi: The first ever Solar Eclipse of the New Year 2019 occurred on January 6 and was witnessed in several parts of the world. The solar eclipse, although partial, took place at 5 am IST on Sunday. Though not visible in India, the partial eclipse was visible in parts of northeast Asia and the North Pacific. Solar eclipse is a celestial phenomenon which takes place when the moon comes in the alignment of sun and the Earth. Where was it seen? The places where the partial solar eclipse was visible are: China, Russia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Alaska. Partial solar eclipse:  Partial solar eclipses happen when the Moon comes between the Sun and Earth, but the Moon only partially covers the Sun's disk, while during total eclipse, the entire sun in blocked. During a  partial solar eclipse, the Moon, the Sun and Earth  are not in a perfect staright line and that is why the moon casts only a part of its shadow on Earth and thus only partially blocks the sun. The eclipse took place between 5 am and 9:18 am on Sunday as per the IST. As per UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) it started at 23:34:08 and the phenomenon lasted till 03:48:46.