A rare annular solar eclipse will appear on December 26, 2019. How to watch the eclipse of December 26 safely .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 26, 2019 at 26 morning from about 8:10 a.m. to 11.25 a.m. Sri Lankan have the rare opportunity to witness a solar eclipse for a duration of about three hours and fifteen minutes. The eclipse can be seen in the northern parts of Sri Lanka as an annular eclipse with the Moon covering more than 93% of the solar disk, and in the southern part of the country, eclipse will be seen as a partial eclipse with the moon covering more than 85% of the solar disk. An eclipse of this nature is due to appear again about 12 years later i.e. on May 21, 2031. This eclipse is therefore considered an important eclipse. Professor Chandana Jayaratne, director of the Colombo University Astronomy and Space Science Unit, says that direct eye contact with the sun without proper eye protection can cause blindness or other permanent eye damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in a direct line between the Earth and the Sun. The moon\u2019s shadow travels over the Earth\u2019s surface and blocks out the Sun\u2019s light as seen from Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the Moon orbits the Earth at an angle, approximately 5 degrees relative to the Earth-Sun plane(ecliptic), the moon crosses the Earth\u2019s orbital plane only twice a year. These times are called eclipse seasons, because they are the times when eclipses can occur. For an eclipse to take place, the Moon must be in the correct phase during an eclipse season; for a solar eclipse, it must be a new Moon. This condition makes solar eclipses relatively rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is furthest from the Earth in its elliptical orbit around the Earth. On these occasions the moon will appear to be smaller and not fully eclipse the sun. On the morning of Dec. 26th , 2019.12.26 the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annular phase of this solar eclipse is to people in Saudi Arabia, Southern India, Northern parts of Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia. It will also be visible as a partial eclipse for those who are in Europe, parts of Asia, Southern parts of Sri Lanka and North-Western Australia . The path of the 128 km wide patch of umbra (Moon\u2019s dark shadow) is moving at the speed of a jet due to the rotation of the Earth. Annular phase of the solar eclipse is visible only to the people under that strip and the duration of the annularity is about 3 minutes. Surrounding areas where the penumbra (Moon\u2019s less dark shadow) falls will have the visibility of a partial solar eclipse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who live up to Jaffna, above a line drawn from Mannar to Vakarai (a place slightly lower than Trincomalee), will see an annular solar eclipse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who live in Colombo, the beginning of the partial eclipse can be observed at 8:10 am and the maximum eclipse occurs at 9:36 am with moon covering the solar disk about 87.6% . Partial solar eclipse ends at 11.22 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Galle city, partial eclipse can be observed from 8.11 am and the maximum eclipse occurs at 9:38 am, with moon covering the solar disk about 85.5%, Solar eclipse ends at 11.24 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the city of Jaffna partial eclipse begins at 8.09 am and the eclipse ends at 11.21 p.m. The annular phase of the eclipse begins 9.34 am. , maximum eclipse at 9.35am with moon covering the solar disk about 93.4%, and the annular phase of the eclipse ends at 9.37am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Chandana Jayaratne, Director of the Colombo University Astronomy and Space Unit said that you don\u2019t have to go to Jaffna to see the anular eclipse phase. It can be seen from the cities of Vavuniya and Trincomalee or any place above the country from the line drawn from Mannar to Vakarai(a city close to Somawathi viharaya).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking directly into the sun, with or without an eclipse, can cause blindness and other permanent eye damage if you don\u2019t wear proper eye protection, even during an eclipse. You need special protective spectacles or eclipse glasses to watch the sun safely or watch an eclipse. Normal sunglasses (even those that absorb ultraviolet radiation) will not adequately protect your eyes. If you intend to take pictures of the eclipse with a photographic device, there are special solar filters that you can add to make sure that the rest of the sunlight doesn\u2019t damage your vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The safest way to indirectly track an eclipse is by using a pinhole camera that you can easily make at home. Take two pieces of cardboard to construct a pinhole camera. Drill a small hole in the center of each piece with a pin or pencil tip. Stay in the sun on your back. On the one hand, hold the piece with the hole in the sun; Place the other side (screen) behind or under. The sunlight will go through the hole and form an image on the screen. If necessary, a mirror can project this light spot into a darker wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you prefer to look directly at the sun, use welders glass with gauge 14 or higher dark filters (which can be purchased from a hardware shop for about Rs. 60.00 rupees) or solar filters. Astronomy and Space Science Unit of the University of Colombo through the Ministry of Technology and Innovation has donated 8 eclipse viewing glasses per each Vidhata centers across the country and we are conducting 256 eclipse viewing camps in 256 Vidatha centers throughout the country. For those who want to join such eclipse observation camps may contact t\ufeff\u7280\u5229\u58eb<\/a>\n<\/span>he nearest Vidatha Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 \u0daf\u0dd9\u0dc3\u0dd0\u0db8\u0dca\u0db6\u0dbb\u0dca 26 \u200b\u200b\u0dc0\u0db1 \u0daf\u0dd2\u0db1 \u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dbd \u0dc0\u0dc5\u0dba\u0dcf\u0d9a\u0dcf\u0dbb \u0dc3\u0dd6\u0dbb\u0dca\u0dba\u0d9c\u0dca\u200d\u0dbb\u0dc4\u0dab\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dca \u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dc0\u0dda. \u0dc3\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dca\u0dba\u0d9c\u0dca\u200d\u0dbb\u0dc4\u0dab\u0dba \u0db1\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0dd2 \u0d85\u0dba\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dca \u0db1\u0dbb\u0db6\u0db1 \u0d85\u0db1\u0dca\u0daf\u0db8 A rare annular solar eclipse will appear on December 26, 2019. How to watch the eclipse of December 26 safely . On December 26, 2019 at 26 morning from about 8:10 a.m. to 11.25 a.m. Sri Lankan have the rare opportunity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,54],"tags":[118,86,85,69,119],"class_list":["post-3164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astronomical-events","category-club-events","tag-2019-december","tag-annual-solar-eclipse","tag-solar-eclipse","tag-university-of-colombo","tag-university-of-jaffna"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3164"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5407,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164\/revisions\/5407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrsoc.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}