KARACHI: An annular solar eclipse, said to be the last big celestial event of the year as it comes to a close, descended upon parts of Pakistan on Thursday morning.
Starting at 7:30 am, it peaked at 8:37 am and is to go on till 1:06 pm. The eclipse was also viewed in other countries including Myanmar, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and parts of India.
Special or ‘Kusoof’ prayers were offered in various mosques including Karachi University Ibrahim mosque.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department had said the eclipse would be visible all over Pakistan, especially in Karachi and Gwadar.
According to the Met Department the solar eclipsed observed in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad ,Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad.
The solar eclipse is not a total eclipse but an annular one. This means the sun and the moon will be positioned in a way to form a “ring of fire” as the moon won’t be able to completely cover the sun. Hence its edges will be illuminated.
The rare and historic event is completely different from the total solar eclipse that took place in August 1999 due to the ‘albedo effect’. It means that most of the radiation did not reach the ground and got deflected back into space because of cloudy skies previously. But this time there are clear skies. Therefore, there will be a direct impact of the radiation. People have been advised not to look at the sun with the naked eye during the eclipse.
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