Solar eclipse 2010: Watch 'Ring of Fire' on Jan 15

On Jan 15, people living in the southern part of Somalia will get to watch the 'Ring of Fire' when the moon will cover the sun's disc during the millennium's longest annular solar eclipse.

However, sky gazers outside the centre path from Kisumu in Kenya to the Somali coast near Kisimayu will also have something to cheer about as they will get to see more than half of the eclipse.

Annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon's shadow is smaller than that of the visible disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a 'Ring of Fire', with its rays appearing spread out from the outline of the moon.

The maximum duration of the eclipse would be 11 minutes 08 seconds over the Indian Ocean, thus making it the longest annular eclipse of the millennium.

In East Africa, the eclipse will start around 08.30 a.m.

To watch the celestial activity people should not watch the eclipse with naked eyes, and are advised to take precautionary measures while watching the celestial activity.

The eclipse will be the longest of the millennium - that is between 2001 and 3000. People in most parts of East Africa will witness the partial phases of the eclipse.

The annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a 300 km wide track that will traverse half of the Earth.

The path of the moon's shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the Indian Ocean.

The central path then continues into Asia through the extreme southern part of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path, including entire India, or Bangladesh.

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