Sky lovers in the city are expected to catch glimpses of a partial solar eclipse on June 21, provided clouds do not play spoilsport.
An annular solar eclipse, which occurs when the disc of the moon covers the central portion of the sun leaving only a ring-like peripheral region called the “ring of fire” visible — will happen on June 21, Debiprosad Duari, the director (research and academic) of MP Birla Planetarium, said.
A similar annular solar eclipse had happened on December 26 last year. The eclipse was prominently visible from a stretch of southern India. Calcutta was tipped to see a partial eclipse but an overcast sky had hampered visibility.
An annular eclipse takes place when the earth comes closer to the sun so that the sun looks little bigger than usual. Around the same time, the moon reaches near its farthest position in its orbit, thereby appearing a little smaller than the average full moon.
