Solar eclipse: All you should know about today's rare Surya Grahan

The first solar eclipse of 2024 is set to occur today, but unfortunately, it won't be observable from India. This total solar eclipse will sweep across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, such eclipses are exceptionally rare for any given location, with once-in-400-year occurrences.

What Makes Today's Solar Eclipse So Rare?

Today's eclipse is a total solar eclipse, which is rare because it requires a precise alignment between the sun, moon, and Earth, according to NASA. The moon must be positioned directly between the Earth and the sun, blocking out the sun's light. However, because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted compared to Earth's orbit around the sun, this alignment does not occur frequently.During a total solar eclipse, the sky will darken, resembling dawn or dusk. If weather conditions permit, watchers within the eclipse's path can see the sun's corona, its outer atmosphere, which is typically veiled by the sun's brightness.

Total Solar Eclipse 2024 Time

Today's solar eclipse will start at 9:12 pm IST and the totality (when the sun is fully covered by the moon) will begin at 10:08 pm and last until 2:22 am IST on April 9.

In Pacific Time (PT), totality will start around 11:07 am on April 8 along the Pacific coast of Mexico. The eclipse will move across North America, ending near Maine around 1:30 pm PT.

Types of Solar Eclipses:Total Solar Eclipse: This occurs when the moon completely covers the sun, blocking all direct sunlight. During totality, the sky darkens dramatically, and the sun's corona becomes visible. These types of eclipses are considered the most beautiful.Partial Solar Eclipse: In a partial solar eclipse, the moon partially covers the sun, creating a crescent shape. Observers will notice a reduction in sunlight.Annular Solar Eclipse: An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away from the Earth to completely cover the sun's disk. This results in a ring of sunlight, or an annulus, around the dark silhouette of the moon.

Hybrid Solar Eclipse: A hybrid solar eclipse is when the type of eclipse changes between annular and total as the moon's shadow moves across the curved surface of the Earth.

Why Are Total Solar Eclipses So Rare?

While there can be between two and five solar eclipses every year, total eclipses only happen about once every 18 months or so. A particular spot on Earth witnesses a total solar eclipse only once in 400 years. This rarity is due to the precise alignment required, where the observer must be standing in the umbra, the darkest part of the shadow. The umbral shadow is very small, covering less than one per cent of the globe, and only very few people will get to see a total eclipse at a time.