Four eclipses in 2024, none visible in India: Astronomer

Indore: There will be four eclipses in 2024, including one total solar eclipse, but none of them will be visible from India, according to a top official from the Ujjain-based Jiwaji Observatory in Madhya Pradesh.

Superintendent Dr Rajendraprakash Gupta of the observatory said that the series of eclipses in 2024 will start with the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 25.

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon align in an almost straight line.

“This first eclipse of the new year will not be visible in India because it will be daytime in the country at the time of this astronomical event,” he said.

Gupta said that the total solar eclipse that will occur on the intervening night of April 8 and 9, which will also not be visible in India.

He said that the partial lunar eclipse that will occur on the morning of September 18 will not be visible in India as well.

Similarly, Astronomy enthusiasts and skygazers of the country will also be deprived of the sight of the annular solar eclipse that will occur on the intervening night of October 2 and 3, he said.

Gupta said that the astronomical event of the annular solar eclipse will last for 7 minutes and 21 seconds and at its peak, 93 per cent of the Sun will be covered due to which it will appear like a shiny bracelet from the Earth.

In 2023, there were four astronomical events, including a total solar eclipse, a penumbral lunar eclipse, the annular solar eclipse and a partial lunar eclipse.