Tomorrow’s total solar eclipse not visible to Sri Lanka

Colombo, April 7 (Daily Mirror)- Though there are two lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses this year, Sri Lankans will not be able to see any of them said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, the Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit, Department of Physics, Colombo University, and the Chairman of the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies.

On 8 April 2024, there will be a total solar eclipse, a very famous eclipse in the world, and in particular the USA, to the extent that some schools in the USA will be closed on the eclipse day.

On Earth, a total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks the Sun’s disk as seen from part of Earth’s surface. In this case, the “path of totality” will be a 185 kms  wide dark shadow strip cutting across the USA, from Texas to Maine.

As such, this solar eclipse is not visible to Sri Lanka, but visible in countries of the West in Europe, North America, North in South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic.

In Sri Lanka Standard Time, the Solar eclipse is due to begin at 9.12 p.m. on  8 April 2024 and end at 2.22 a.m. on 9 April 2024.   

The next eclipse that Sri Lankans can witness is a lunar eclipse due on 7 September 2025 said Prof. Jayaratne.