Longest Solar Eclipse of 2010

January 15: India is gearing up to watch the century's longest eclipse on January 15, 2010. The solar eclipse will last for 11 minutes, 8 seconds and it will be visible in India for 10 minutes and 24 seconds. The best place to view the eclipse from India is Dhanushkodi in Pamban Island off Tamil Nadu coast.

Solar eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs when the Moon comes directly between the Sun and Earth. This produces a shadow on the Earth's surface in the region where the Sun is completely or partially obscured. This is a very rare occurrence as the Moon seldom comes in the path of the Sun and the Earth. The solar eclipse on January 15 is an annular eclipse that has an apparent diameter of the Moon that is slightly smaller than the size of Sun. So at totality that is, when the Moon will cover the sun, a bright ring or 'annulus' will be formed by the Sun around the Moon.

The solar eclipse will be visible within 300 km wide tract traversing half of Earth. The path of moon's shadow will begin in Africa and pass through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. Once it passes through Africa, it will cross the Indian Ocean and the central path will continue into Asia. The countries that will be able to witness the rare phenomenon are Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar) and China.

The NASA Eclipse website has said, "The annual eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a 300-km-wide track that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon's antumbral shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the Indian Ocean where the maximum duration of annularity reaches 11 min 08 seconds."

The Solar Eclipse will start at 11 am and end around 3:15 pm in India. The first sightings of the solar eclipse in India can be viewed in Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, the southern part of India. Then it will pass through the Northeastern state of Mizoram.

Indians have witnessed the Ring of Fire on November 22, 1965 and will be able to view this spectacular natural show on June 21, 2020.