South America and parts of the Pacific region will be plunged into darkness for approximately four and a half minutes today due to a total solar eclipse. It is set to begin at 16.55 GMT (10.25 pm IST) above the Pacific. The solar eclipse will not be visible in India as it coincides with night in the South Asian country.
Parts of Argentina, New Zealand, and Chile are the few places in the world that will be directly face the sun when the moon passes in front of the earth, blocking its light completely and darkening skies for several minutes.
Several people have flocked to northern Chile to glimpse a rare view of the phenomenon through the region's clear skies.
Total solar eclipses occur at any specific location on average every 360 years, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
In this phenomenon the moon passes directly in front of the sun thereby blocking the visible disk of the sun from the earth and casting a shadow on it. This is unlike the partial and annular solar eclipses where a 'bite of the sun' and 'ring of fire' are respectively seen.
India will witness its next annular solar eclipse on December 26, 2019.
How to watch the solar eclipse?
Keep in mind that watching the solar eclipse directly can be injurious to the naked eye. Only specially made solar eclipse glasses maybe used.
Though the eclipse cannot be seen from India, several online platforms are available to witness the event.
The ESO, a 16-nation intergovernmental research organisation for ground-based astronomy, will air the total solar eclipse from the Atacama Desert in Chile.It will switch between three telescopes to provide a complete view of the eclipse.
The webcast will begin at 1915 GMT (12.45 am IST), or 1 hours and 24 minutes before totality, and the live views will continue until the eclipse ends.
The link to the web cast is eso.org/public/live.
