Total Solar Eclipse On March 9: Precautions & Rituals

NASA

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a total eclipse of the Sun will occur on March 9, 2016 (Wednesday) and it will be seen as partial solar eclipse at sunrise from most places in India except north-west and western parts of the country. The greatest eclipse will be taking place on the Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The solar eclipse (Suryagrahan) will be taking place in India time between 5:07 AM and ends at 6:47 AM. Mid-eclipse is at 6:37 AM. The time is not same throughout India as per NASA. In eastern parts of India, the time is 5:53 AM to 6:50 AM. Please note that in India it is a partial eclipse.

“As one moves towards the east of the nation, the length of time of the partial eclipse expands coming to up to the duration of around one hour and more in extreme northeast India and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” sources stated.Things You Need To Know About 9th March Total Solar Eclipse:

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, almost completely blocking the light of the sun (A solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s shadow falls on Earth). As the moon passes precisely between the sun and Earth – a relatively rare occurrence that happens only about once a year because of the fact that the moon and the sun do not orbit in the exact same plane – it will block the sun’s bright face, revealing the tenuous and comparatively faint solar atmosphere, the corona, explained NASA astronomers.

The Moon’s penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse, visible in the regions covering South East Asia including India, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Australia and the North Pacific Ocean.

The total eclipse of the Sun would be visible within a narrow corridor in the northern Hemisphere. The totality path would pass through Sumatra, Borneo, Indonesia and the North Pacific Ocean. The instant of greatest eclipse occurs at 7h 27m IST when the eclipse magnitude reaches 1.044 with duration of totality 4 minutes and 14 seconds in a region of Pacific Ocean.

Precautions & Rituals During March 9th Solar Eclipse:

Eclipsed Sun should not be viewed with the naked eye, even for a very short time. It will cause permanent damage to the eyes leading to blindness even when the moon covers a most portion of the Sun. A safe technique to watch the solar eclipse is either by using a proper filter like aluminized Mylar, black polymer, the welding glass of shade number 14 or by making the projection of Sun’s image on a white board by telescope.

Hindu Temples will remain closed during morning hours on the day  It is considered highly auspicious to take holy dip on the day in rivers, seas and other sacred water bodies.