Only penguins can see solar eclipse

| Written on 1 Jul, 2011 at 9:05 in Tech | viewed 501 times

New Delhi: A peculiar partial solar eclipse will take place on Friday. It will, however, not be visible anywhere in the world except the Antarctica, where it is likely to be seen only by penguins and sea birds.

Partial solar eclipses taking place over the polar region, such as this one over the Antarctica, are peculiar in the sense that the centre of the shadow of the moon just misses the earth, Arvind Paranjpye of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics said.

The partial solar eclipse will begin at 1.23 p.m. Indian Standard Time and will end at 2.53 p.m. It will reach its maximum at 2.09 p.m. IST.

The total duration of the celestial phenomenon will be for about an hour and a half.

The partial solar eclipse will be visible from southern latitudes and the Antarctica, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) president C.B. Devgun told PTI.

This southern hemisphere event is visible from a D-shaped region in the Antarctic Ocean, to the south of Africa, Mr. Paranjpye said.