The Experience of a Solar Eclipse

The Experience of a Solar Eclipse

A Total Solar Eclipse occurs when the new Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth and casts the darkness part of its shadow,the umbra,on the Earth. A full solar eclipse,known as "totality" is almost as dark as night. 

Only viewers located around the world, in the path of the Moon's full shadow,its umbra, can see clearly through a telescope,or with special protective glasses,a total solar eclipse.

The next annual total solar eclipse forming a ring of light around the darkened Moon which will be visible in Sri Lanka, will be in Jaffna and in the northern part of the island from Mannar to Vakarai at 09.34 a.m. on 26 December 2019.We are informed that it will last only for 4 minutes,moving at a speed of 1km per second,3600 km per hour.
                                                

This eclipse starts from Dhamman in Saudi Arabia around 0800 hrs and will travel over the Indian Ocean towards Southern India and then over the northern part of Sri Lanka.The whole Total Annual Solar Eclipse of the Moon is expected to last for 5 hours from it's start and finish about noon,12.30 pm to be exact, in the Pacific Ocean.                                              
What it is like to view the solar eclipse? 

The last total solar eclipse which was visible in Sri Lanka took place on 15 January 2010  in Jaffna for about 10 minutes.  

I was able to witness this event as I happened to visit Sri Lanka on holiday.I was "entertained" to this spectacle  in Jaffna at the esplanade and saw the entire disc of the Sun covered by the Moon,through the special telescope provided through the courtesy of Arthur C. Clarke Institute, Moratuwa. It was the then Minister of Technology,Prof. Tissa Vitharane, who enabled this  experience and who explained the entire significance to all who viewed it through the telescope.

It is not the first time I saw a total solar eclipse. I have vivid recollection of the first sight of a once in a lifetime opportunity, of a total eclipse. I was a young lad in Colombo,Ceylon.There was so much anticipation, excitement, if not hype then, that the whole nation literally came to a standstill for days on end in preparation.To some, it was as if it was the end of the world.I was woken up like many others before daybreak to watch the eclipse which was only to take place around mid-morn on 5 June 1955. 

It was a sight.There were crowds outside houses waiting for the event.The eere sound around, dogs barking,the birds feeling displaced,the atmosphere full of excitement. I will never forget it. We were all un-prepared for it.I was given special protective plastic glasses and told not view the Sun without them.I ran out of our home towards Bambalapitiya beach with a few of our neighbours to see if we could get a better glimpse of the Sun on the sea coast horizon.

Almost everyone was exposed to all types of anecdotes,rumours,gimmicks, as no one knew what to expect,or perhaps,what would really happen. For those who can remember, it was the origin of the famous vedamahatmaya's "wadhaka magical decoction," a recipe to change one's complexion,with this apocalyptic change.  The repercussion of this eclipse reverberated in the  composition of the famous Sinhala "bailla" melody - "bewa nay-the wadhaka sudiya". Pregnant mothers and young children were told to be indoors in case of health hazard, not only to eyesight, but also to the unborn. 

The Eclipse !                                      

The sunrise was at 06.10 hrs that day. It was very warm, hot, even humid. As it got nearer the eclipse,we could see the "Baily's beads of the Moon and the diamond ring effect just before totality. As this spectacle took place,only the Sun's corona was visible to the naked eye as the horizon suddenly got darker by the minute. The birds, the crows, the pigeons took flight as if they were frightened as the Sun went dark. The temperature became cooler and even relatively colder. Before long the scene was back to normal, as the sun shone out in its brightest hue.

Solar eclipses are a great attraction for tourists the world over.Some spend years in preparation for this event to visit destinations of solar eclipses. Many researchers are also attracted to study the effects of the sun's corona on life in general. 

We  are told that on average there is approximately one total Solar Eclipse every eighteen months.

The next visible occasion of a Total Solar Eclipse is on 20 April 2023,but we are told it won't be visible from Sri Lanka. 

Victor Cherubim