Summer Solstice, Superlative Sun & Solar Eclipse

Today was a magnificent day for celestial lovers. We all have witnessed a rare phenomenon of nature. The scene was splendid. It was an annular solar eclipse in noon of the summer solstice.

Today, 21^st of June 2020 is summer solstice with the longest sun busking day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. People feasted their eyes with the Ring of fire in the sky in person or through internet and T.V channels. Earth enjoyed a little breeze instead of hot sunbeams.

We call summer and winter solstice in the year the indication of a change of season. As from today Northern Hemisphere entered in summer and the south side of the equator is ready to face winters.

A country like Pakistan is now moving towards winter. This hemisphere experienced the highest point of energy today. Though modern meteorologists don’t bother these dates now for ascertaining season-changing they just take temperature timelines and ascertain the shift of the season.

Today for summer solstice sun was directly looking down at the Tropic of Cancer, our Earth’s tilt was maximum towards Sun and Moon also decided to maintain the maximum distance from Earth.

This whole setup created an annular solar eclipse (“annulus” means “ring” in Latin), when the moon fails to cover whole sun disc due to distance from Earth and let sides of sunshine. It allows us to see a fire ring in the sky. If moon would come nearer to Earth we might experience full and total darkness.

This year has given our Erath two shares of the solar eclipse. One we have consumed today and the remaining one will occur on December 14. This one is annular and the former will be total. This solar eclipse has been seen in wider parts of Africa and Asia. It traveled with narrow shadow through central Africa, south-east Europe, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, most parts of Asia, and northern parts of Australia.

It was visible in cities of  12 countries like Impfondo (Congo), Ethiopia, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sind (Pakistan), Gharsana (Rajasthan, India), and Xiamen and Fujian (China), etc. others got countries and Asia and Africa just got a chunk of this magnificent scene. It covered its journey in about 6 hours.

14 December Solar Eclipse will be total and it will cover the Pacific Ocean, South America, and the Atlantic Ocean. It will visit Temuco and Villarrica in Chile, and in Piedra del Águila, Ministro Ramos Mexia, Sierra Colorado, and Junín de Los Andes in Argentina. It will give its partial look to most parts of South America. Its journey will continue for about 5 hours.

This eclipse remained 5 to 12 minutes at a spot. In those moments looking at sun or sky with naked eyes in can cause solar retinopathy, a type of retinal injury that results from direct sungazing. I know women who fetched this issue while seeing the sun in Great American Solar Eclipse.

Most people followed precautions and used eclipse glasses, welder’s glasses, darker shades, commercial solar filters, pinhole projection, viewing from Astronomy Club or Planetarium, optical instruments, and online viewing.

It is said that the best views of today’s eclipse were captured in Congo and Maldives. In the past, people used to get together for viewing and celebrating such rare natural views but this time it was different. These are days of Corona which made people see Corona (surrounding ring) of the sun alone on their roofs and back yards.

Various civilizations of these 12 countries did different religious rituals. Hindus closed their temples, shun worshipers and didn’t allow pilgrims to come in. Muslims recited their Holy Book Quran in mosques and offered special solar eclipse prayers in homes.

This all was what nature did. Now let us discuss which we humans did to this incident. A few days ago a Christian evangelist Paul Begley released his video on his YouTube channel. Fortunately, he has 335,000 subscribers and followers there. He predicted that this solstice annular solar eclipse was a sign that the end of the world was near.

His stance was that as a number of biblical prophecies about the end of the World have been exhausted like 10 biblical plagues are about to sweep the World which includes “Locusts of a biblical proportion” in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He attributes this annular solar eclipse as “the plague of darkness. Thank God he didn’t confirm other frogs, boils and lice plagues, and one more, turning of rivers into blood. We are compelled to admit his mercy you know !!!!!!!

If you remember there was 2012 about which Mayans had a firm belief that it is the last year of Universe. That passed and now they made 21^st July 2020 the center of their hopes but Alas! Once again we passed the marked time safely. Their higher men said that in about 2012 they were wrong because they were relying upon Julian calendar but in fact, they had to follow the Gregorian calendar. Well, the Gregorian calendar has also disappointed them.

Then comes “tinfoil hat wearers” who were waiting for some mysterious planet, Nibiru. It had to crash into Earth on June 21. Rest is history. ”. Bad luck for those who predicted apocalypse. Shit, we waited for it hard…. Chill just kidding.

One interesting thing I came to know today is that shadow of the moon in solar eclipse also involves the shadow of mountains and valleys of the moon. These feature of the moon affects the prediction of location, timing, and length of the shadow. And yes the same type of solar eclipse on the same date will occur on the 21^st of July 2039. Stay tuned.

“There is nothing beyond hope,

Nothing that can be sworn impossible,

Nothing wonderful, since Zeus,

Father of the Olympians,

Made night from mid-day,

Hiding the light of the shining Sun,

And sore fear came upon men.”

(Archilochus …. at the eve of total solar eclipse)

April 6, 647 BCE

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