Source: beta.thehindu.com
INDIA, January 10, 2010: The first solar eclipse of the year will occur on January 15th and will be visible partially in major parts of India.
People in South India will be the first to see the eclipse as its path traverses across the country before entering Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Ajay Talwar of the Amateur Astronomers Association told IANS, “Not only will this eclipse be the first of the year but also the longest of the third millennium, that is between 2001 and 3000. In India it will start at around 11 a.m. and end at around 3 p.m.”
“The eclipse will first be seen in south of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and then travel obliquely to Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, where it will enjoy the best view. It will then travel to Kerala and end in Mizoram in the northeast,” he said. The rest of India will see the eclipse only partially, Talwar added.
According to a post on the site of NASA: “On Jan 15, an annular eclipse of the sun is visible from within a 300 km wide track that traverses half of earth. The path of the moon’s antumbral shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia.
[HPI note: In Hindu astrology, eclipses signal change and have an influence that extends for a few days before and after the event.]