LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– An annular solar eclipse, or suraj grahan as it is known in Pakistan, is set to occur only after few hours and would be visible in some cities in Pakistan.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Climate Data Processing Centre, “an annular solar eclipse happens when the moon covers the sun’s centre, leaving the sun’s visible outer edges to form a ‘ring of fire’ or annulus around the moon”.
The partial eclipse begins at 08:46am local time and ends at 2:34pm with the greatest eclipse occuring at 11:40am, according to the PMD.
Information provided in the statement indicated that people living in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Sukkur, and Gwadar could witness the eclipse at various partial levels, with only those in Sukkur to see the annular eclipse in almost its entirety — with a solar coverage of 98.78%.
Gilgit would have the least solar coverage in the eclipse, at 74.88%, the centre added.
The PMD noted that apart from Pakistan, the solar eclipse would also be visible in parts of Africa — including the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia — as well as India and China.
The solar eclipse happens when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun and blocks the rays of the Sun from directly reaching the Earth. So, it creates a solar eclipse on Earth. There are three kinds of solar eclipses — total, partial, and annular. The June 21 event will be an annular solar eclipse.
