We are lucky to have two opportunities to see the 'ring of fire' in the sky in a short period of time. Those who saw the annular solar eclipse last December would perhaps disagree with the phrase; the eclipse resembled a glittering golden ring. Those who were content with looking at photographs of the eclipse would call it a 'bangle' — which was golden in India, when it occurred at dawn. The 'bangle' was silver elsewhere when the sun was at higher altitude.
Ancient stone inscriptions referred to this event as ‘chudamani grahana’.
The shadow of the moon will sweep across a small belt in the northern states on June 21 for another ‘bangle’. However, it will be slightly different from the one formed in December, since each eclipse is unique in its own way. This is because the distance between the earth and the moon is always changing due to the moon’s elliptical orbit.
The sun appears largest on January 4 (the perihelion) and smallest on July 4 (the aphelion). Therefore, we expect, when viewed from earth, the moon would not cover the sun in December.
On the other hand, since the sun’s size appears smaller on June 21, we may expect a total eclipse but that is not the case, as the moon too executes an elliptical orbit and its size is smaller than that of the sun. It reached its smallest diameter on June 15, when it was farthest from earth. Though it is gradually increasing in size, it is still smaller than the sun. This small difference in the apparent size of the sun and the moon will show up in the sky as a 'thinner bangle'. The same reason is also responsible for the shorter duration of the eclipse — about 30 to 40 seconds only. However, those who saw the eclipse in Mangaluru in December may recollect that it lasted around a minute.
In sculptures
Such a show in the sky is bound to leave the spectators spellbound, no doubt. We find that this spectacle probably inspired sculptors too. The temples of Keladi kings in Keladi and Kavaledurga of Shivamogga district have depictions of the solar and lunar eclipse on the temple walls.
The historians put the construction of the temple around the early part of the 17th century. A quick look at the eclipse catalogues shows that there were two awesome eclipses in quick succession. Perhaps the construction was still underway in 1610 December and 1615 March - when there were annular eclipses visible from this part of the country. Researcher Dr Pankaja has done a similar analysis for the eclipse drawings near Mahabalipuram; however, it is not easy to date those dilapidated mandapas.
These annular and total eclipses have sneaked into literature in a peculiar way, making the source completely untraceable. A legendary astronomer, Suryadasa, flourished in the early part of 17th century in Bheed (now in Maharashtra) under the governance of Bijapur Sultan. His texts are seeing the light of the day only now as the manuscripts have reached the hands of able astronomers.
Suryadasa’s grandson, a staunch devotee of their family deity Goddess Khandheshwari, narrates an incident as follows: “The King challenged my grandfather Suryadasa, that the moon should be shown during the new moon day; or else his head will be chopped off.”
Suryadasa took up the challenge. Then there is a long description in this Sanskrit text of the anxiety of all people who assembled at the court. The conclusion is that the Goddess came to his rescue; she pulled out a golden bangle and threw it into the sky. The king was wonderstruck.
Do we take this as a miracle or the annularity of an eclipse? Or is this the victory of wit, since the dark circle inside the ring, after all, is indeed the moon devoid of light.
Many have told me about similar stories. Although we cannot establish the authenticity of these tales the one in the case of Suryadasa is written down by his own grandson. Facts take very little time to morph into miracles.
The eclipse is an awe-inspiring sight. Now, with modern technology, one can enjoy the beautiful sight of sun turning into a bangle in our armchair. However, it is worth seeing the partial phase safely with goggles or simple tiny mirror projection to the wall inside. After all, you don’t get opportunities to witness such sights often.
(The writer is with Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru)