Pics: Justin D'Silva
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (MS)
With Inputs from Media Release
Mangaluru/Udupi, Jun 21: Several astronomy enthusiasts in Mangaluru and Udupi viewed the annular solar eclipse that occured on Sunday, June 21.
Arrangement was made for viewing the solar eclipse through the telescope made by scientist R Manohar in Udupi. Social worker Ganesh Raj Saralebettu took the initiative of providing facility for the commoners to watch the celestial event.
In addition to the telescope, many people also witnessed the eclipse through safety goggles and cameras.
Mangaluru
Udupi
Chanting of mantras and other religious rituals were carried out at Sri Krishna Math in the city on account of the solar eclipse by Paryaya Adamaru Sri Eshapriya Theertha Sripada and other seers of Ashta Maths. Other priests were also present on the occasion.
Vehicular and movement of people was also less on the roads of the city owing to the solar eclipse.
Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club organised a live stream for the viewers at a time when social distancing is important. The live streaming enabled astronomy enthusiasts to sit in the comfort of their respective homes and watch the eclipse without coming out, and therefore view it in the safest way possible.
The club organized the live stream through YouTube which was then streamed onto the website at paac.ppc.ac.in using the Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club YouTube channel. The link was also shared on the club’s Facebook page. The four-inch refractor was connected with a camera to stream the video for the viewers. Over 300 people watched the video live on YouTube, with over 100 visitors viewing it on the website and some more on other platforms.
The eclipse was often interrupted by clouds, but the first contact and the peak eclipse was clearly visible due to sunny skies. The club successfully streamed the moments of the eclipse as people from all over Dakshina Kannada and Udupi could see the astronomical phenomenon even if it was not visible from their respective homes. Dr A P Bhat, founder co-ordinator of PAAC, Dr Raghavendra A principal of the College, Prathibha C Acharya HoD of physics were present along with Atul Bhat co-ordinator, PAAC. Ramdas Prabhu, Amateur Astronomers and Mohammad Hashim, students of PAAC were also present at the event. About 10 curious members of the public joined them to view the eclipse which was viewed through another telescope.
The people present viewed the eclipse using eclipse-viewing goggles, grade 14 welding glass and other apparatus and sent the feed to all the viewers online. The eclipse started at 10:04 am and peaked at 11:27 am with the Moon covering 40.38 per cent of the sun, something that was clearly visible. The conclusion at 1:22 pm could not be witnessed as there was continuous weather interruptions.