The center line of this annular eclipse here runs from Mannar to Vakarai. The eclipse which enters Sri Lanka from Mannar will be visible in Jaffna at 9.34 a.m. It will last for only four minutes.It will end at 9.38 a.m. The previous annular eclipse which took place on January 15, 2010 was visible in Jaffna for about ten minutes. But this time it will be limited to less than four minutes.It would be visible as an annular eclipse to those in the far north and as a partial eclipse to those living South of Kilinochchi, said Astronomer Anura C. Perara.
Those living in Anuradhapura will see about 87% of the Sun covered by the Moon, whereas people in Colombo will see about 84% of the Sun covered.Professor Chandana Jayaratne, Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit of the Colombo University has warned residentsa and citizens against watching the solar eclipse with naked eyes as it could damage them and even cause blindness.It will be visible from Dammam in Saudi Arabia at about 8 a.m. It travels across the Indian Ocean and southern India and goes over northern Sri Lanka. When this eclipse takes place, the Moon will be about 400,000 kms away from Earth and will be moving at a speed of 1 km per second or 3,600 km per hour.
This annular eclipse which starts in Saudi Arabia goes over northern Sri Lanka and again over the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and ends at about 12.20 pm above the Pacific Ocean. In Indonesia the path of the eclipse falls over the island of Sumatra and the greatest eclipse will be visible at a place called Paden at about 10.47 a.m.According to astrology, the Sun and the Moon will be in the constellation of Sagittarius on December 26. In the annual movement of the Sun across the Zodiac, the Sun is always in ‘Sagittarius’ from December 22 to January 19. The peculiarity of this date is that another five planets namely, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto will also be in ‘Sagittarius.’ Further, since Mars will be in the ‘Scorpio’ during this period, it will affect the weather not only in our country but throughout the world.
