Total Solar Eclipse Will Take Place March 8 and 9

March promises to serve up a total solar eclipse, a partial lunar eclipse and a bright view of Jupiter for sky-watchers in various parts of the world.

A total solar eclipse will occur on March 9.

A total solar eclipse, or a complete blocking out of the Sun’s light, can only be seen from the area on the Earth’s surface that enters the Moon’s umbra, the smaller shadow.

However, start of partial phase of the eclipse will take place just after sunrise from extreme north east India.

This eclipse will be viewable in Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi Indonesia and in the Pacific Ocean.

However, the greatest phase of the partial eclipse will not be seen from many places in India as the sunrise will take place after the time of occurrence of greatest phase at these places.

The eclipse will be total in Indonesia, and other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam will see a 50% partial eclipse. Though the Sun is many times bigger than the moon, 400 times to put it in numbers, it appears to be the same size as that of the moon in the kay. In most places of India, the partial phase of the eclipse begins before sunrise.

A very accurate geometry is behind the occurence of a total solar eclipse. Its maximum point will take place at 01:59 UTC on March 9, 2016, and the totality is to last for 4 minutes and 9 seconds. The 2017 total eclipse will be significant as it will be accessible from thousands of convenient locations.

On March 20, the March equinox will occur at 04:30 UTC, with the sun shining directly on the equator and nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the globe.

Path of 1919 solar eclipse via NASA’s eclipse page. “Even when 99 percent of the sun’s surface is obscured by the moon, the unobscured sliver of the sun’s surface can damage the eyes”.