New Delhi sees annular solar eclipse but clouds play spoilsport...!!!

New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) The millennium's longest annular solar concealment was partially credible in the civic basic Friday but blurred skies bedridden a bright appearance of the angelic spectacle. The weather, however, bootless to break the spirit of agog acceptance who had aggregate at the Nehru Planetarium to appearance the attenuate event. Scores of bodies aggregate at the planetarium. So abundant was the action that admiral at the planetarium accepted they were 'nervous' about managing the crowd. N. Ratnashree, administrator of the Nehru Planetarium, who larboard for Tamil Nadu to appearance the eclipse, said: 'Initially we had aloof three admiral to handle the arrange at the planetarium for examination of the eclipse. We did not ahead a big army because it was aloof a fractional eclipse. 'However with the enquiries cloudburst in over the aftermost few days, we absitively to get some added advice so that the accident can be managed well,' she said over phone.

While the concealment began at 11.06 a.m. in India, in Delhi the fractional appearance of the concealment began at 11.53 a.m. and will end at 3.11 p.m. The best concealment of 53 percent will be at 1.39 p.m. 'The concealment began at 11.53 a.m. here. You can see it through the telescope. But because of the blurred skies the appearance is not actual clear,' an official of the planetarium told IANS. An annular solar concealment occurs back the sun and the moon are absolutely in line, but the credible admeasurement of the moon's adumbration is abate than that of the arresting disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a 'Ring of Fire', with its application actualization advance out from the outline of the moon. Aftermost time India saw this 'Ring of Fire' was Nov 22, 1965. The best continuance of the concealment would be 11 account 8 abnormal over the Indian Ocean, authoritative it the longest annular concealment of the millennium.

Ratnashree said: 'People in southern genitalia of the country, abnormally in Dhanushkodi abreast Rameshwaram, will be advantageous to see the adorable afterimage of 'Ring of Fire'. The concealment will be best beheld at Dhanushkodi for a continuance of 10 account and 13 seconds'. Said Shitij Bagga of the Amateur Astronomers Association (AAA), who had set up his telescope on the accessible arena of the Nehru planetarium: 'I couldn't see the alpha of the concealment because of the clouds. But I am activity to be actuality until the end so I am acquisitive the skies bright by then.' However, those who had appear to see the concealment at the planetarium remained unfazed. They wore clarify goggles, peeped through the two ample clarify screens set up and aggregate their action with others.

Aditi Shankar, a apprentice from Hansraj school, said: 'We accept consistently apprehend about the solar concealment in our science argument books but this is the aboriginal time that we are absolutely seeing it happen. I will never balloon this experience.'

There were at atomic 11 buses anchored alfresco the planetarium back aboriginal Friday, ferrying mostly acceptance from adjacent schools to appearance the eclipse. Teachers kept activity about the ground, analytical whether acceptance had beat their clarify goggles afore seeing the concealment and advising them not to watch the afterimage for added than four abnormal at a stretch. Anika Kumar was one of the abounding parents' who had appear to the planetarium with her babe to see the eclipse. 'It's a attenuate befalling - to see the millennium's longest annular solar eclipse. Instead of aloof account about the abnormality in books, watching the concealment appear alive is a abundant acquirements acquaintance - not aloof for the child, but alike for us! I couldn't accept absent this one,' Kumar said.