Solar Day Night Show

Was the solar eclipse successful, screamed the Timesnow anchor, as if it is some concert or a talent show. More than 30,000 stayed awake and stood in the open ground in Bihar and equally large crowds thronged the  banks of varanasi. 


Around 30 astronomy enthusiasts boarded a chartered plane at the Indira Gandhi International Airport today, to chase the total solar eclipse up to Gaya above the clouds at a height of 41,000 feet. And do you what was the cost of the flight- Rs 71000 to 81,000 inclusive of all taxes[ depending upon the seating side]. 


There were people who flew 7000 miles from New york to Shangai, just to be part of the show. 


Nepal has declared a holiday for today. 


People snaked through the narrow lanes of the ancient Hindu holy city of Varanasi and gathered for a dip in the Ganges, an act believed to bring release from the cycle of life and death.


The eclipse lasted up to a maximum of 6 minutes, 39 seconds over the Pacific Ocean. It was visible along a roughly 250 km-wide (155 miles) corridor, according to NASA. 


A total solar eclipse occurs once every year or two on average, but each is visible only from a narrow track covering less than 1 per cent of Earth's surface. On 11 July 2010, the next total solar eclipse will be seen almost entirely over the South Pacific. Easter Island and southern Chile (at sunset) offer the only landfalls. And the South Pacific also hosts the next one, on 13 November 2012.


Experiments were conducted from Tibetan plateau and Chinese caves to prove/disapprove that the Gravity reduces during Solar eclipse. A Mirage-2000 fighter jet and an AN-32 medium lift transport aircraft took to the skies early this morning with a team of astrophysicists and IAF personnel onboard who carried out some experiments and filmed the longest total solar eclipse of the century. Scientists from Noida-based Vigyan Prasar, Udaipur-based Solar Observatory and Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics participated in the experiments and the filming. As the transport aircraft reached 25,000 feet altitude, its rear ramp was opened to enable the scientists carry out their experiments.


Schools started late and Hindu temples were closed during eclipse. In Chennai a private firm prepared a nava dhanyam idli[ idli made out of nine different grams] weighing 140 kgs and submerged it in the sea to please the nature gods.Special puja's and prayers are organised in many temples. Astrologers are busy with their predictions. Planetariums had arranged for special telescopes and viewing. Schools had organised astro tours. People had thronged the beaches with solar films, xray sheets and sun glasses to watch the show. 

Clouds, season weather and rains spoiled the day in many areas, However Varanasi saw the diamond ring up above the sky and most channels showed it to us. One channel was showing full eclipse from china shot at different angles[!] much before it occurred[!!!]. 


More than the public the anchors in the channels were disappointed for they had raised so much hype and had hoped to cash on it for a couple of days, but the spectacle was for just little more than five minutes and that too mostly covered by the clouds.  So how do they kill the day?