Solar Eclipse 2021 highlights: NASA shares mesmerizing photos of eclipse

A man uses a monocular to cast a reflection of a partial solar eclipse on a paper in Ronda, southern Spain, June 10, 2021. (Source: REUTERS/Jon Nazca)

A bird is silhouetted against the sun as the moon blocks part of the sun during a partial solar eclipse in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Source: AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

If you are using your mobile phone, then you need to put eclipse glasses over the smartphone’s camera lens. If you have a DSLR, then avoid looking through a camera’s optical viewfinder and use the LCD screen.

Looking at the Sun directly can cause permanent damage to the retina so it is recommended to use special goggles, a welder’s shield, or a pin-hole imaging technique to see the solar eclipse.

The image of the sun can be put up on a sheet of white paper using a pair of binoculars pointed at the Sun. Do not use ordinary goggles, as they are not dark enough and are made to cut only the terrestrial light. Also, do not use a glass surface covered with lampblack or carbon soot as it is not safe.

The annular solar eclipse phase or 'Ring of Fire' will last a maximum of 3 minutes 51 seconds. The annular eclipse of the Sun is a special case of the total solar eclipse in which the Moon does not cover the Sun completely. 

It is not safe to look at any solar eclipse directly; annular, partial or total. NASA that those who are viewing a solar eclipse should wear "solar viewing or eclipse glasses" throughout the entire eclipse, especially if one wants to face the sun. These glasses are not the same as your regular sunglasses. For those who do not have glasses, NASA says they should try "an alternate indirect method, such as a pinhole projector," but one should not use these to look directly at the sun.

The annular eclipse will be visible in parts of Canada, Greenland, and northern Russia. So people living in these areas will see the ring of fire. 

The areas where the partial solar eclipse will be visible are eastern United States, northern Alaska, along with much of Canada and parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. According to NASA, in many of these locations, the eclipse will occur before, during, and shortly after sunrise. The annular eclipse will not be visible in India, though it will be visible in eastern states such as Arunachal Pradesh but only in limited areas. 

The annular solar eclipse will not be visible to everyone in India, but you can watch the celestial event online. NASA has already published the live stream link of the solar eclipse, so you can watch this event online. We have embedded the solar eclipse 2021 live stream link below, so you can watch it here. The live stream will start at around 2:30PM.

The annular solar eclipse is a rare and mesmerising sight and you shouldn’t miss it. NASA says annular solar eclipses appear every 18 months somewhere on Earth and they are visible only a few minutes, unlike lunar eclipses. Next year, you will not see a total or annular solar eclipse, as per Timeanddate.com. In 2022, you will only get to see two partial solar eclipses. 

During this solar eclipse, the Moon will block off around 70 per cent of the Sun. The ring of fire will not be seen constantly. It will only be seen when the eclipse is at its peak. Before and after that you will only be able to see a crescent shape Sun.

NASA says hundreds of years ago when people observed the Moon during an eclipse, they saw Earth’s shadow on the Moon and discovered that the Earth is round. “Even after all these years, scientists are still learning about the Moon from lunar eclipses, NASA said.

Scientists also use solar eclipses as an opportunity to study the Sun’s corona, which is basically the Sun’s top layer. During an annular solar eclipse, NASA uses “ground and space instruments to view the corona when the Moon blocks the Sun’s glare.”

When the Moon is near its farthest point from the Earth, called apogee, its relative size fails to completely block the Sun and leaves the outer rims visible. It creates a 'Ring of Fire' in the sky.

When the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon align in a straight line, we witness either a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse depending on the position of the three bodies relative to each other. When the Moon moves between Earth and the Sun, it casts a shadow over Earth and blocks the light of the Sun from directly reaching the globe.

Based on the alignment and the relative distance between the three celestial bodies, there are three kinds of solar eclipses — total, partial, and annular. As already mentioned, today you will witness an annular solar eclipse.

In most of the areas, the 2021 annular solar eclipse event will start at 01:42 PM (IST) and it will be at its peak at around 6.41 pm IST. The duration of the annular eclipse at Greatest Eclipse will be around 3 minute and 51 seconds. The map published by NASA suggests that those who are based in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh will start witnessing the solar eclipse at 12:25. They will be able to see a partial solar eclipse and this celestial event will last until 12:51 for them.

#Sky gazers are advised to not stare directly at the Sun. One can wear safety-approved, protective solar eclipse-viewing glasses to directly view this celestial event.

#You can view the solar eclipse by creating a pinhole camera or box projector. To employ this technique, you need to make a pinhole in a card sheet and hold it under the Sun, below which you need to keep a white paper. This will put up an image of the Sun on the paper.

#Using the pinhole imaging technique you can also put up the image of the Sun directly on a wall. To do so, you can tape a pinhole card sheet o a mirror and reflect the image of the Sun on a distant wall.

#To capture an eclipse with binoculars, a telescope, or a camera, you should use a safety-approved, protective solar filter on your lens.

#Ordinary sunglasses should not be used to view the phenomenon.

#Do not look at the reflection of the Sun in the water.

NASA has published an interactive map, which reveals that solar eclipse will be visible in India, but only from Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. If you are interested in watching this astronomical event, then you will have to watch it online. 

As per NASA, viewers in parts of the eastern United States, northern Alaska, Canada and parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa will get to see a partial solar eclipse on June 10. NASA says in many of these locations, the eclipse will occur before, during, and shortly after sunrise.