Indore: Astronomy enthusiasts will be able to study six—four lunar and two solar--eclipses this year, but only three of them are expected to be visible in India.
This year's celestial events will start with a penumbral lunar eclipse during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday (January 10-11), Ujjain-based Jiwaji Observatory's superintendent Rajendraprakash Gupt said.
Only partially visible in India, this will start at 10.36 pm on Friday night and continue till 2.44 am on Saturday.
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth and moon align in an almost straight line. The earth blocks some of the sun's light from directly reaching the moon's surface, and covers a small part of the moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra.
According to Gupt, another penumbral lunar eclipse will occur during the intervening night of June 5 and 6. This will be visible in India.
Penumbral lunar eclipses will also take place on July 5 and November 30, both of which will not be visible in the country as they will take place before sunset.
An annular solar eclipse will take place on June 21 and will be seen in India.
Gupt added that a total solar eclipse would occur on December 14, which will not be visible in India as it will occur during at night.
In 2019, three solar and two lunar eclipses were seen in different parts of the world.
