Weather Plays A Spoilsport To Solar Spectacle

A silhouetted view of a flying eagle in the backdrop of the solar eclipse in Chennai.

The sun appeared as a ring of fire on Sunday in an annular solar eclipse, fascinating skygazers in parts of India but disappointing many for whom the celestial event was obscured by cloudy skies. Across a narrow belt which included parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand, the eclipse was annular or ring-shaped. In other parts of the country, it was the more common partial solar eclipse.

Reports of weather playing spoilsport came in from several places, where people expected a partial eclipse or the ring-of-fire phenomenon, this time coinciding with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Delhi teacher Harpreet Kaur, who is the coordinator of the science club at her school, was somewhat disappointed.