Dramatic 'ring of fire' solar eclipse to be observed from Bangladesh today

Skywatchers from Bangladesh along with India, southern China and West Africa to the Arabian Peninsula will witness a dramatic "ring of fire" solar eclipse on Sunday.

The annular phase of eclipse will begin at 9:46am at Impfondo of Democratic Republic of Congo and end at 3:34pm at Mindanao of Philippines, according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). 

"The partial phase of the eclipse will be visible today in Bangladesh if the sky remains clear", said the BMD.  

The partial eclipse will begin in Dhaka at 11:23am, Mymensingh at 11:23am, Chattogram at 11:28am, Sylhet at 11:27, Khulna at 11:20, Barishal at 11:23, Rajshahi at 11:17am, and in Rangpur at 11:17am, it said. 

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon, earth and sun come in a straight line, with the moon between the earth and the sun, reports Hindustan Times. 

However, unlike a full solar eclipse when the sun is entirely covered by the moon for a brief period, during the annular eclipse, the angular diameter of the moon falls short of that of the sun and it fails to cover up the latter completely. As a result a ring of the sun's disk remains visible around the moon. Hence, an annular solar eclipse is popularly known as 'ring of fire'.

The next annular eclipse will be seen from South America in December 2020. Another annular eclipse will occur in 2022.

Today's celestial event will coinciding with the summer solstice which is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.