Happened to suddenly chance upon the eclipsed moon a couple of days back (10th Dec 2011). Quick research on the Internet showed it was a full moon night, and a total eclipse fully visible in India!
Took some quick photos for lack of time, one is below:
Having witnessed 5 solar eclipses, one of which was a totality – over a period of 14 years, and having read about the one from 1980, I am going to try and chronicle how the eclipse viewing has changed over the past 29 years.
The photo at the top shows a normally busy income tax office square in an Indian city bereft of any people during the eclipse of 1980.
| 1980 | 1996 | 2009 | |
| TV | Showed a movie to keep people indoors | Showed a live telecast of the eclipse | Let people just watch on their own, nothing special |
| People | Stayed indoors mostly. Only the scientists watched the eclipse. | It was quite a people event, the educated watched the superstitious didn’t | Everyone watched! Right from the bathing sadhus to the city dwellers |
| Advise by the ophthalmologists | Don’t watch! Not even with filters. | Don’t watch! Not even with filters. | Forgotten |
| Media | Newspaper | Newspaper / TV | Newspaper / TV / Web / Flickr |
| Astrologers | Spreading doomsday | Spreading doomsday | Spreading doomsday |
In 1980, the eclipse was watched in 15 eclipse camps – it was a first in 82 years. Some interesting news items from that time:
Some news items from the 1995 eclipse:
From 2006:
In 2009, the clincher was a photo in one of the national dailies showing the bathing sadhus wearing solar goggles and watching the eclipse. Flickr also made a world of difference: we could see various cultures in various countries trying to watch the eclipse, and interpreting it in their own ways.
Eclipse time again. These celestial happenings are among the most watched in the world, and I like to watch them too. Some photos:
More photos below, click to enlarge:
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When viewed from the Earth, the apparent size of the sun and the moon is the same. If the sun were smaller, the Bailey’s beads would not occur, and if the moon were smaller – the eclipse wouldn’t be total. Yes, I know it won’t always be like this: the moon will keep moving away from the other and in several years the apparent size will be smaller so total eclipses won’t occur. For the moment though, is it a coincidence or did Mother Nature design it like this?
Eclipse teaches us that naturally, there is no one who can reign supreme all the time. When the sun shows up, the stars & the moon are gone: defeated. There comes one day when the little moon eclipses the mighty sun. So I see a lesson there from nature.
I have also a post on the eclipse of 2008, and a collection of various eclipse photos showing both lunar and solar eclipses.
I just now watched and photographed the solar eclipse from New Delhi in India. Here we had only a partial view.
Ok, here is the much awaited photograph:
The sun shining on the right is a photograph of the overall scene where I was. Eclipses continue to entice me – I have been avidly following them since 1995 when I saw a total solar eclipse in Ranchi. Even the birds seemed confused when the sun rays were blocked.
Here is computer colored image that shows a total solar eclipse in its full glory.
In Hindu mythology, Arjuna vowed to kill Jaidhrath before Sunset, else he would commit suicide. The opponents made Jaidhrath to hide thinking that since Arjuna would be unable to find him, he wouldn’t kill him and would have to commit suicide. However, on the day of the battle, towards the evening, a total solar eclipse occurred and everybody thought the day has ended. Jaidhrath came out of the hiding thinking that Arjuna would commit suicide. At just that moment the eclipse ended, the sun shone brightly and Arjuna, realising that the day is not yet over, killed Jaidhrath.
I have a collection of Eclipses (both Lunar and Solar) from many different sources – some my own and others from magazines.
