E-Paper
Cloud cover affects sky gazing activities during solar eclipse in Pune
The eclipse was to start at 8:04am partially and reach its peak at 9:23am before ending at 10:57am.
Cloud cover over the city affected various sky gazing activities organised on the occasion of a solar eclipse on Thursday.
The eclipse was to start at 8:04am partially and reach its peak at 9:23am before ending at 10:57am.
Sunil Pote, education co-ordinator, Science Park in Pimpri-Chinchwad, said, “At least 200 people gathered here to witness the celestial event. The clouds are completely overcast so we could not see the eclipse. So, we used a mobile application called Sky View which shows planet and star alignments when you hold your phone against the sky in your location. Now we are showing those gathered, a film on eclipse.”
Shruti Ghayal, an IT professional, who runs a social media group called Amateur Astronomers Group, said, “It is cloudy and even rained at Rajaram bridge, Sinhagad road. In the last five minutes, we could see a few glances of the eclipse (at 9:35am).”
“In Pune, annular eclipse was expected and not the complete eclipse i.e., ring-type eclipse,” said Ghayal.
However, the clouds did not affect the enthusiasm of the people who were determined to bust the superstitions surrounding the solar eclipse.
“To overcome the superstition of not eating or drinking during the eclipse, we organised an event called tea with the solar eclipse. Even though we could not see the eclipse clearly, we served tea and biscuits,” said Pote.
Milind Deshmukh, Maharashtra state head of Andhashraddha Nimroolan Samiti, said, “People follow various superstitions during eclipses. It is simply a game of shadows and nothing more than that. In our society, however, various practices like throwing away food and water are followed. Pregnant women are subjected to various restrictions. People should free themselves from such beliefs this eclipse season.”
