Hordes throng Indian village to see eclipse

HORDES of scientists, students and nature enthusiasts prepared yesterday for the longest total solar eclipse of this century, while millions planned to shutter themselves indoors, giving in to superstitious myths about the phenomenon.

Today’s eclipse will first be sighted at dawn in India’s Gulf of Khambhat, just north of the metropolis of Mumbai, before being seen in a broad swath moving north and east to Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China.

The eclipse will last 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point, but will be seen for 3 minutes and 48 seconds in Taregna, an obscure village, 40 kilometres east of the Bihar state capital Patna. Scientists say Taregna will have the clearest view of the eclipse in India.

Over the past week the village has been swamped by researchers who will study scientific phenomena ranging from the behaviour of birds and other animals to atmospheric changes affected by the eclipse.

Hotels in Patna were fully booked while taxis raised their rates sensing a brief opportunity in the sudden interest in the village.

Scientists set up telescopes and other equipment in Taregna a day in advance.

“We are hoping to make some valuable observations on the formation of asteroids around the sun,” Pankaj Bhama, a scientist with India’s Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators, said.

A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore and the Indian air force will be flying and filming the eclipse as it becomes visible in different parts of the country, an air force press release said.

Thousands of people lined up outside a planetarium in Patna yesterday to buy solar viewing goggles. The goggles, costing 20 rupees (40 cents), are supposed to act as filters and allow people to look at the sun without damaging their eyes.

But millions across India were shunning the sight and planned to stay indoors, gripped by fearful myths.

Across India, even in regions where the eclipse was not visible, pregnant women were advised to stay indoors in curtained rooms over a belief that the sun’s invisible rays would harm the foetus.

Still, it was not all gloom and doom. A travel agency in India is running a charter flight to watch the eclipse by air, with seats facing the sun selling at a premium.