Partial solar eclipse visible in Sri Lanka tomorrow

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in many parts of Sri Lanka tomorrow, during  sunset. 

The eclipse will also be visible over much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and western parts of Asia. 

In Sri Lanka, the eclipse will be best seen from Jaffna said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, the Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit of the Department of Physics, University of Colombo.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in a straight line between the Earth and the Sun. The moon's shadow then passes across the Earth's surface and blocks the Sun's light as seen from Earth. 

A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day.

For the city of Jaffna, the partial eclipse begins at  5.27 p.m. and the maximum eclipse occurs at 5.46 p.m. with 8.8 % of the solar disk covered by the moon. Though the eclipse ends at 6.20 p.m. we can observe it only up to the sunset due at 5.49 p.m.   This eclipse will be visible to Jaffna for 22 minutes.

The northern part of Sri Lanka, from Anuradhapura to Jaffna, is the most suitable region to observe this eclipse.

For those who live in Colombo, the beginning of the partial eclipse can be observed at 5.43 p.m. and the maximum eclipse occurs at 5.49 p.m. with the moon covering about 1.6% of the solar disk. The partial solar eclipse cannot be observed after 5.52 p.m. due to sunset. This eclipse will be visible to the Colombo area for about 9 minutes.

This eclipse is not visible to the southern parts of Sri Lanka.

Professor Chandana Jayaratne also said that since this eclipse occurs when the sun is very dim near the western horizon close to sunset, it is fairly okay to observe the eclipse even without a solar filter. Naked eye observations at the eclipse maximum time and afterwards for a short period of less than 30 seconds will not cause any damage to the eyes. A solar eclipse will again appear in Sri Lanka after 5 years, on August 2, 2027.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row with a two weeks gap. Accordingly, 14 days later, on November 8th  there will be a total lunar eclipse too visible to many parts of the world. That eclipse will be visible to Sri Lanka as a partial lunar eclipse at the moon’s rise on the eastern horizon from 5.48 p.m. to 6.19 p.m.