Taregna, ( Bihar) July 22: An overcast sky disappointed hundreds of those gathered in Taregna to watch the longest solar eclipse of the century early this morning. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi were among those who had come to this subdivisional town, 30 km from Patna, which is one of the best places for viewing the eclipse.
Incidentally, it was at Taregna where ancient astronomer Aryabhatta (or Aryabhatha, 476-550 AD) studied the movement of stars. Astronomers, scientists, two representatives from NASA and also members of Mumbai-based NGO SPACE were present. The VIPs were gathered on the rooftop of a two-storey hospital.
SPACE representative Amitabh Pandey said that the eclipse was not visible because of cloud cover. A report from Siliguri in North Bengal said that the sky was overcast there too with rains since last night. It was also raining heavily in neighbouring Jalpaiguri from where the total eclipse would have been visible. The Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, North Bengal University Coordinator told PTI that rains marred the chances of viewing the eclipse at Jalpaiguri and Siliguri and in the rest of north Bengal.
The Coordinator Bikash Chandra Pal said that the North Bengal University’s High Energy Cosmic Ray Research Centre was conducting a small experiment on gamma rays during the solar eclipse, which would remain unaffected whether it was visible or not. The fluctuations in emission of gamma rays from neutron and binary stars and from some unknown sources were being studied, he said. Though it was cloudy, darkness descended in Siliguri later and the eclipse was visible from Kalimpong town in Darjeeling hills.
–PTI