Official: Bad weather may spoil eclipse viewing in India

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-21 20:57

VARANASI, India: While India is waiting for the longest eclipse of the century to take place Wednesday morning in the country, weather may spoil the exciting natural event in several places including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, situated within the eclipse belt, with heavy clouds or rains, said Indian meteorological officials Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh Meteorological Department said cloudy skies and thundershowers in several places, including Varanasi, Lucknow and Allahabad, could hamper the viewing activities.

Low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal has concentrated into a depression and is expected to move towards the Uttar Pradesh bringing rains in some parts of the state, said the officials.

In Varanasi, a Hindu holy city, the maximum totality duration of the eclipse would be three minutes and 10 seconds from 5:28 a.m. Wednesday, while in the state capital Lucknow the eclipse begins at 5:31 a.m. and ends at 7:26 a.m.

The Indira Gandhi Planetarium and the Regional Science City in Lucknow will open at 5 a.m. Wednesday for visitors and show the fantastic view live from 5:31 a.m. on a large LCD screen.

By the 12th century sun worship was a major part of Hindu Rituals, said Willard Van de Bogart, an American astrologer.

"What makes this solar eclipse so unique is that it is occurring at the end of the great year which is known as the precession of the equinoxes, which means over a period of 26,000 years the sun will finally return to its starting point where it crosses once again the galactic equator," Van de Bogart told Xinhua.