Science News: Ring of Fire' during Monday's solar eclipse

India to miss 'Ring of Fire' during Monday's solar eclipse

As sky gazers in various parts of the world gear up to watch Monday's
annular solar eclipse - a rare event in which the sun will appear as a
thin ring behind the moon - people in India will miss the 'Ring of
Fire' as it will be over before sunrise.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth
are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than
that of the Sun, therefore only a part of the sun gets blocked. Hence
the Sun appears like an annulus (ring), surrounding the outline of the
Moon.

The next annular solar eclipse will occur after 18 years in June 2030.

"An annular eclipse of the Sun will occur May 21. The ending of the
partial phase of the eclipse will be visible for a very short duration
from northeast India after sunrise," said an official of the ministry
of earth sciences.

Other parts of India won't be able to watch the eclipse as it will be
over before sunrise.

SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators &
Educators) has taken 70 school students to Hong Kong to witness the
annular solar eclipse, where it will be visible clearly.

SPACE president C.B. Devgun, who is heading the tour, said the
students will also participate in scientific activities and
experiments, including contact timing measurement, a study of change
in ambient temperature and lunar limb profile measurements.