Partial Solar Eclipse on Tuesday

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – A partial Solar Eclipse will be visible over Sri Lanka at sunset on Tuesday (25), however with the prevailing weather conditions some might not be able to witness it.

The Astronomy and Space Science Unit (ASSU) of Colombo University said the partial Solar Eclipse will be visible over the skies of Jaffna at around 5:27 PM on Tuesday (25).

Head of the Department, Prof. Chandana Jayaratne says the partial Solar Eclipse will be visible over Jaffna for close to 22 minutes.

According to Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, the partial Solar Eclipse will be visible over Colombo at 5:43 PM.

During this partial solar eclipse, the Moon covers only parts of the Sun, as seen from Colombo.

This is the second partial solar eclipse of 2022. It is visible from most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and western parts of Asia.

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the moon will pass in front of the sun in the last solar eclipse of 2022 in an event that could be visible to millions of skywatchers lucky enough to be in the visibility path.

The Oct. 25 solar eclipse will be a partial solar eclipse and the second eclipse of the sun of 2022. It will be primarily visible from Europe and parts of Africa and Asia.

At its peak, the Oct.25 solar eclipse will block 82% of the sun as the moon and star will not be perfectly aligned with Earth as they are during a total solar eclipse. That means that at its best, only a sliver of the sun should be visible from “the point of central eclipse.” This prime viewing spot is at the North Pole, so few if any observers will likely see it.

While this eclipse’s path will begin in the northern Atlantic Ocean, it does cross encompass most of Europe, and wide swaths of Africa and Asia, where millions of skywatchers could potentially see it, weather permitting.

WARNING: Looking directly into the sun can lead to blindness and other forms of permanent eye damage if you aren’t wearing proper eye protection. Always be sure to use proper equipment when observing the sun or a solar eclipse.

If you’re planning to watch the Oct. 25 solar eclipse, or any other sun event, you’ll need to make sure you have the right equipment. Observers should use special protective eyewear or certified eclipse glasses, but here is an important note: REGULAR SUNGLASSES WILL NOT PROTECT YOU, EVEN WITH UV PROTECTION.

The safest way to observe a solar eclipse is to use indirect methods, like building a pinhole camera to project the eclipse on an external surface.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon appears to pass in front of the sun when viewed from Earth. They can only occur when the phase of the moon is in its “new moon” stage, since that’s when the moon is between the Earth and sun. However, the moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted about 5 degrees with respect to the sun, so the two do not align every new moon, which is why there is not a solar eclipse every month.

In a bit of cosmic coincidence, the sun is 400 times bigger than Earth’s moon, but the moon orbits the Earth at a range that is 400 times closer than the sun. When the moon lines up perfectly with the sun, when viewed from Earth, it completely blocks the sun in a total solar eclipse. These happen every 18 months or so.

There are times, however, when the moon appears to cross in front of the sun but not block the star completely. This is when we get partial solar eclipses. Sometimes, the moon is slightly too far from Earth to fully block the sun, creating a dazzling “ring of fire” effect in what is known as an annular solar eclipse.

After the Oct. 25 partial solar eclipse, we’ll have to wait until 2023 for the next time the moon will cross in front of the sun. There are two solar eclipses in 2023.

The next immediate solar eclipse will occur on April 20, 2023 and will be a so-called hybrid solar eclipse. This is an eclipse that can look like an annular eclipse, also known as a ring of fire solar eclipse, from some parts of its track and a total solar eclipse from others. This eclipse will be visible from parts of southeast Asia, the East Indies, Australia, the Phillipines and New Zealand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

After the April 20 solar eclipse, there will be an annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023. This eclipse will be visible across parts of North America, Central America and South America, with the “ring of fire” effect visible from the western United States, Central America, Columbia and Brazil.

If you can’t wait that long, there will also be a total lunar eclipse on Nov. 8, 2022.