Solar eclipse 2022: First partial solar eclipse during Diwali season in 27 years

The partial solar eclipse as witnessed in Chandigarh, Punjab, on October 25. (Image credit: ANI)

The partial solar eclipse on October 25 was a rare phenomenon because this is the first time in 27 years that it has happened during the Diwali season, astronomers said.

The last time a partial solar eclipse happened during the festive season was in  1995.

"For tradition-bound Indians, the significance is it is the first Diwali season partial solar eclipse after a gap of 27 years and it will be a rare partially covered sun that will set this evening," popular astronomer Bharat Adur, Director of Akash Ganga Centre for Astronomy, told IANS.

For India, another solar eclipse will be visible only after another 10 years, in 2032. He, however, added that another total solar eclipse will take place in 2024 in the US.

The longest duration of the partial solar eclipse was visible in Jammu and Kashmir, two hours and six minutes, with 55.75 per cent sun covered while it was visible for the shortest duration in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and barely a few minutes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the sun sets, Adur said.

Meanwhile, many important temples across the country remain closed on Tuesday due to the solar eclipse with temple authorities engaged in religious rituals till sunset.

A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when the Moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun and when all the three objects are aligned. A partial solar eclipse will occur when the lunar disk covers the solar disk partially.

Read more: Solar eclipse 2022: Images from different parts of the world