Solar eclipse begins in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The annular solar eclipse has begun in Pakistan after 20 years today’s (Thursday) morning, ARY News reported.

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This year’s solar eclipse has been named as ‘Ring of Fire’.

According to the Meteorological Department, the solar eclipse would also be visible from Eastern Europe, much of Asia, North & West Australia, Eastern Africa, Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

The Penumbral Eclipse that commenced at 07:30 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) will conclude at 01:06 afternoon.

The Met Office also informed that this will be the fourth last solar eclipse of 2019. The first three eclipses occurred on January 6, June 2 and July 3 respectively. However, these three eclipses were not witnessed in Pakistan.

The experts have cautioned people to be careful while witnessing the Eclipse, as looking directly towards the sky could cause permanent damage to the eyes.

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon covers the Sun’s center, leaving the Sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around.

According to the PMD, maximum magnitudes of the eclipse at major Pakistani cities will be as follow:

The maximum magnitude of solar eclipse visible in Karachi will be 0.77, at 08:46 PST, Islamabad 0.49 magnitude at 08:58 PST, Quetta 0.64 magnitude at 08:48 PST, Peshawar 0.50 magnitude at 08:56 PST, Lahore 0.52 magnitude at 08:58 PST, Gilgit 0.43 magnitude at 09:01 PST and Muzaffarabad 0.47 magnitude at 08:59 PST.

Solar Eclipse Precautions

Do not look directly at the sun
Do not use homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark sunglasses
Use special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers, to view the eclipse.
Avoid looking at the Sun through telescope, binoculars and any other optical device.

Looking directly at the Sun can

Loss of the central vision
Distorted vision
Altered colour vision