SEVERAL PARTS OF TAMIL NADU TO WITNESS SOLAR ECLIPSE ON JUNE 21: WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH?

Several parts of Tamil Nadu, will witness a rare partial solar eclipse on Sunday (June 21). This is an annular solar eclipse that will be visible across the country. 

As per The New Indian Express, S Soundararajaperumal, executive director of the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre said, "In Chennai, only a partial phase of the eclipse will be visible. However at maximum eclipse, 34 percent of the disk of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. In Chennai, the eclipse will begin at 10:22 am and end at 1.41 pm. Maximum eclipse will be at 11:58 am.” 

This will be the first solar eclipse of 2020. Meanwhile, as per timeanddate.com, the eclipse will be seen across India, parts of Europe, Asia, north of Australia, Africa and a few other countries. 

This solar eclipse will be visible for six hours which will begin at 10:17 am and will go on till 2:02 pm. The maximum eclipse will be visible at 12:10 pm, Express further reported. 

There are few precautions that one must take while watching a solar eclipse:

- Never look directly or with naked eyes at the eclipse. It could cause permanent injury or loss of sight.

- Use binoculars or small telescope mounted on a tripod to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card.

- One can also use his or her phone to see the eclipse. 

According to NASA, the eclipse occurs when the moon is farthest from Earth.