The first solar eclipse of 2022 is coming on April 30. There will be a narrow band of visibility across parts of Antarctica, the southern tip of South America, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Solar eclipses happen when the new moon passes in front of the face of the sun from Earth’s perspective. Partial solar eclipses occur when the moon blocks only a portion of the solar disk. In this case, roughly 64% of the sun’s disk will be blotted out at most. However, the amount will vary depending on your viewing location.
This partial solar eclipse will be visible near sunset across a swath of the South Pacific and Southern Oceans, as well as in southern and western portions of South America, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Peru southern Bolivia, western Paraguay, and some part of Brazil.
Partial eclipses last a bit longer than total solar eclipses. In total eclipses, we are subject to the moon’s very small shadow, which can briefly cover the entire face of the sun. Partial phases, however, last a lot longer.
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Ahead of the first Surya Grahan this year, here are some interesting myths about the partial solar eclipse:
Eclipses will poison any food that is prepared during that time
NASA scientists debunk the myth saying, “Related to the false idea of harmful solar rays is that during a total solar eclipse, some kind of radiation is produced that will harm your food. If that were the case, the same radiations would harm the food in your pantry, or crops in the field. People have just made up their own fearful stories and look out for coincidences during this time.
Eclipses are harbingers of something really bad that’s going to happen
“A classic case of what psychologists call Confirmation Bias is that we tend to remember all the occasions when two things happened together, but forget all of the other times when they did not. This gives us a biased view of causes and effects that we remember easily because the human brain is predisposed to looking for and remembering, patterns that can be used as survival rules of thumb. Total solar eclipses are not often recorded in the historical record, but they do tend to be recorded when they coincide with other historical events. But this is not always true. There are numerous cases when something good happened but no one keeps notice of that.
If you are pregnant you should not watch an eclipse, it will harm your baby
This is related to the previous false idea that harmful radiations are emitted during a total solar eclipse. Although the electromagnetic radiation from the corona, seen as light, is perfectly safe, there is another form of radiation that travels to Earth from the sun. Deep in the solar interior where nuclear fusion takes place to light the sun, particles called neutrinos are born. Every second, your body is pelted by trillions of these neutrinos no matter if the sun is above or below the horizon. This is an entirely harmless effect and would not harm you, or if you are pregnant, the developing fetus.
Some interesting facts about partial solar eclipse are:
- Partial solar eclipses can be seen up to 3,000 miles from the “track” of totality.
- According to researches, it is said that local animals and birds often prepare for sleep or behave confusedly during an eclipse and local temperatures often drop 20 degrees or more near totality.
- The partial solar eclipse on April 30 will see the moon reach a new phase 23 hours and 26 minutes before it reaches the node and that will be too far away to allow the moon to pass directly in front of the sun. However, it will still just be near enough to allow the moon to, cover a part of the sun at the very least.
- The partial solar eclipse phase can last over an hour.
- Never look at the sun directly with your eyes nor look through a telescope even with a specialized filter unless you really know what you are doing. Always wear special glasses to have a look.
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