Total solar eclipse will occur today, 14 December: Where and when to watch it?

The last and final total solar eclipse of this year will occur today. It will start at 08:03 pm IST and will end at 11:24 pm IST. Since the eclipse will not occur during day time in India, it won’t be visible to us and it is not in the path of the eclipse either. However, large parts of the southern end of South America i.e. parts of Chile and Argentina will plunge into total darkness as the moon passes between the Earth. According to Time and Date, part of South Africa, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Antarctica will be able to see atleast a partial solar eclipse. According to NASA, sometimes when the moon orbits Earth, it moves between the sun and Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching Earth. This causes an eclipse of the sun or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow onto Earth. [caption id=“attachment_6917721” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The total solar eclipse of 9 March ,1997 as seen from Chita, Russia. Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons[/caption] There are three types of solar eclipses: The first is a total solar eclipse where the sun, moon and Earth are in a direct line. It is only visible from a small area on Earth and the sky becomes very dark as if it were night. The second is a partial solar eclipse which happens when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up. The sun appears to have a dark shadow on only a small part of its surface. The third type is an annular solar eclipse where the moon is farthest from Earth and it does not block the entire view of the sun. This creates what looks like a ring around the moon. According to Zee News, the best cities to view the partial solar eclipse from would be Santiago (Chile), São Paulo (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Lima (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Asuncion (Paraguay). The total eclipse will begin at 14 December, 20:02 pm IST and peak at 21:43 pm IST. The total solar eclipse will end at 23:24 pm IST.

How to watch it live?

For people living in parts of the country where the eclipse is visible, you can go outside and watch the annual solar eclipse. However, it is important to maintain social distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have proper eye protection because looking directly at the Sun can cause permanent damage to the eye’s retina. If you aren’t in the areas where the eclipse is visible or you don’t want to go out, you can watch the phenomenon online.

Next will be a total lunar eclipse will be on 26 May 2021 and will be visible in South/East Asia, Australia, Much of North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica. Next annular solar eclipse will occur on 10 June 2021 and it will be visible in part of Europe, Much of Asia, North/West Africa, Much of North America, Atlantic, Arctic.