Eclipse chasers set for flight of lifetime...

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It's the opportunity of a lifetime and many Indians are not about to miss it. They are making a beeline for a special flight to watch a total solar eclipse next week from 41,000 feet above ground - even if it means shelling out Rs.70,000 for a window seat!

In fact almost 80 percent of the window seats on the chartered flight have already been sold for the July 22 celestial event.

The flight is being organised by Cox and Kings India, a travel agency, under the technical guidance of Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum (ECA), a wing of the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).

SPACE is a Delhi-based organisation working to make science and astronomy popular among youngsters.

'We have received a very good response for the eclipse flight. There have been inquiries and bookings from all over the country. After all, this is a once in a lifetime event. We have almost 80 percent sellout on our sun side seats,' Karan Anand, head of relationships and supplier management, Cox and Kings India, told IANS.

A JetLite 737-700 has been chartered for people to watch the century's longest solar eclipse. The flight will last three hours. It will take off from New Delhi at 4.30 a.m., fly towards Gaya in Bihar and hover over the city while the eclipse is on.

Gaya is one of the regions where the eclipse will be total.

The aircraft window seats have been divided into two categories. The sun side seats are the 21 window seats on the right side of the aircraft.

'We have bookings from Delhi and Mumbai. Our oldest passenger is a 70-year-old gentleman and our youngest is an 11-year-old girl,' said Anand.

The sun side seats are priced at Rs.79,000 while the earth side are being sold for Rs.29,000 each.

'The aircraft will be intercepting the middle of the eclipse shadow at 6.26 a.m. at a height of 41,000 feet. Eclipse chasers sitting along the sun side seats will be able to photograph the eclipse, while the chasers sitting along the earth side seats will be able to photograph the lunar shadow moving over the earth,' said Anand.

SPACE has planned a series of activities for the passengers aboard the flight.

'There will be an astro magic show, explanation of the eclipse before and during the actual totality, a question and answer session and an eclipse parade,' said Anand.

The total eclipse is expected to last six minutes and 44 seconds, making it the longest till 2132. It is starting at sunrise near Surat in Gujarat.

The shadow of the moon will be so large during this eclipse that even at sunrise the duration of totality will be over three minutes. The shadow very quickly moves across the breadth of India towards Arunachal Pradesh. It spans a third of the entire path in India, 900 km out of 2,500 km.

More Details in Kimi's Post: Total Solar Eclipse on July 22nd

Kimi

Waiting for the eclipse

Safin

What is a Total Solar Eclipse
It's when the new moon gets between Earth and Sun, and covers the solar disc completely. This can happen only during a new moon, when the sun and
moon are in conjunction as witnessed from earth. Minimum two and maximum five solar eclipses can occur in a year.

Is it a big deal?
A total solar eclipse is easily the most spectacular celestial event you can view from Earth. The astrologers and astronomers believe the total solar eclipse to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and this one being the longest solar eclipse is definitely going to be a reason of curiosity. An eerie darkness descends during totality, birds fall silent and stars peer out in day time.

What's so cool about this one?
This one's truly special. It's the longest total eclipse this century and the longest seen in India since Aug 18, 1868. The next big total eclipse in the country takes place on Jun 3, 2114. Between then and now, there's only 1 total eclipse, on March 20, 2034, and it would just be visible in J&K. The line of totality traverses a distance of over 3,000 km. So, more Indians will be in the path of totality than ever in history! With this triple eclipse, a series of seven triple eclipse is marked till 2028.

When can Total Solar Eclipse be viewed?
The solar eclipse in Kanpur will be visible at 95.38 per cent. It will start at 5.32 am and last up to 7.26 am and is likely to peak at 6.26 am. The solar eclipse will commence even before sunrise and so the rising Sun itself will be eclipsed.

The partial eclipse will be visible from all over India. The Total Solar Eclipse is visible in Patna, Bhopal, Indore, Gaya, Varanasi, Bhavnagar, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Sibsagar, Surat, Ujjain and Vadodara. The time is early morning from 05:30 AM to 07:30 in most regions.

Timings differ slightly.
The maximum duration of totality for the Pacific Ocean is 6.39 minutes, for China about six minutes. For Kanpur region, the duration would be more than two minutes.
The last total eclipses visible from India were in 1999, 1995 and 1980.

SUPERSTITIONS
There have been several popular superstitions attached with the eclipse and have been passed down the generations.
# Pregnant women are not supposed to do any work with a needle, knife or scissors (basically any sharp object) because of the risk of physical mutations in their baby.
# Pregnant women are advised not to go outside during the eclipse to avoid having a blind baby or one with a cleft lip.
# It is also suggested that food cooked before the eclipse should be thrown out afterward as it becomes impure.
# Another interesting story attached with the eclipse is that those who are holding a knife or axe or any other sharp instrument during the eclipse will cut themselves.
# Eating is generally not allowed during an eclipse for the same reasons of impurity.
# Sometimes, even bathing after a solar eclipse is recommended.
# People should not venture out during the eclipse.

LEGENDS
* The Demons Rahu and Ketu, according to Hindu mythology caused the solar eclipse by eating away the Sun, but the mighty lord Sun was saved by Lord Vishnu and so every time an eclipse occurs, it is Rahu who eats the Sun.
* Ancient Chinese eclipse records can be used to calculate the slowing of the earth's rotation, due to the braking action of the moon.
* According to the Chinese, a dragon swallows the sun. It needs to be frightened away by beating of drums so that it stops eating the celestial bodies.
Sky-gazers may just miss the fun as parts of state from where the total solar eclipse could be seen on July 22 are likely to have cloudy conditions.
It is a natural phenomenon. The only matter of concern is that this is the monsoon period and the visibility of the sun, low on the horizon, just after sunrise, when the eclipse takes place, is doubtful from almost all Indian locations.
Unfortunately, the weathermen of agronomy department of CSA have predicted rainfall in the next couple of days and so the overcast skies on Wednesday is likely. "Cloudy conditions would prevail during the next four or five days as pro-rainfall systems like low pressure area are present in the city," pointed Dr Anirudh Dubey, weather scientist of CSA. "Besides local conditions like moisture and temperature would have an impact," he added.

DOs and DONTs
# Do not look at the Sun with naked eyes as during the transition period, it may burn the retina and one may lose eyesight.
# Do not use ordinary dark glasses to see the Sun; UV glasses are appropriate to watch the eclipse, as they have the ability to reduce intensity.