Surya Grahan 2022: Date, time and how to watch partial solar eclipse on October 25

The Solar Eclipse also known as Surya Grahan usually occurs on a new moon day when the Moon, the Sun, and the Earth are all aligned. The Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on a certain part of the land. This year's last partial Solar Eclipse is on October 25, a day after Diwali on the 24th of this month. This Surya Grahan will be visible from Europe, the Urals, and Western Siberia, Central Asia, and Western Asia, and the NorthEast of Africa. 

Notably, the celestial phenomenon will commence before sunset and end after sunset in India. This year, it would be a partial Solar Eclipse which is also known as Aanshik Surya Grahan. When it's a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon, however, in partial and annular eclipses, only a section of the Sun is obscured.

Surya Grahan 2022: Date & Time 

The partial Solar Eclipse is scheduled to take place on October 25. This is considered one of the auspicious and pure occasions according to Holy Books across the world. It will begin at 4:20 PM in India and end at 6:03 PM. However, the eclipse start time will vary across different states in the country. 

The eclipse in the National capital will begin at 4.29 PM, in Mumbai, it will begin at 4:49 pm. Notably, at both places, the duration of the eclipse will stretch over an hour. In Kolkata, the eclipse will begin at 4:52 PM, and in Chennai, it will start at 5:14 PM.

According to a government release, "In India, the eclipse will begin before sunset in the afternoon and will be seen from most places. However, the same cannot be seen from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and some parts of NorthEast India (the names of a few of such places are Aizawl, Dibrugarh, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Sibsagar, Silchar, Tamelong, etc.)."

Timing of the eclipse in major Indian cities:

• Delhi - 4.29 pm
• Mumbai - 4.49 pm
• Chennai -  5.14 pm  
• Bengaluru - 5.12 pm
• Chandigarh - 4.23 pm
• Jaipur - 4.31 pm
• Kolkata - 4.52 pm
• Hyderabad - 4.59 pm
• Lucknow - 4.36 pm
• Jammu - 4.17 pm 
• Dehradun - 4.26 pm 
• Bhopal - 4.42 pm
• Bhubaneswar - 4.56 pm 

In Delhi and Mumbai, the percentage coverage of the Sun by the Moon at the time of the greatest eclipse will be around 44 percent and 24 percent respectively. The duration of the eclipse from the beginning to sunset time will be 1 hr 13 min and 1 hr 19 min for both Delhi and Mumbai respectively. In Chennai and Kolkata, the duration of the eclipse from the beginning to sunset time will be 31 min and 12 min respectively.

Dos and don'ts during Solar Eclipse

Viewing the eclipsed Sun with naked eye is not advised even for a very short time. It can cause permanent damage to the eyes leading to blindness even when the Moon covers most portion of the Sun. A safe technique to observe the solar eclipse is either by using a proper filter like aluminized Mylar, black polymer, welding glass of shade number 14, or by making a projection of the Sun’s image on a whiteboard by telescope.  

Surya Grahan 2022: Live Stream 

People can watch the Solar Eclipse online on the official website of the Virtual Telescope Project. The eclipse will be streamed live from Rome, Italy. One can also watch the live stream of the partial Solar Eclipse on the official YouTube channel of the Royal Observatory Greenwich.