Unfortunately, could not see the sun, says PM Modi as cloud thwarts his plan to witness solar eclipse

Like millions of Indians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too was waiting eagerly to catch a glimpse of the last solar eclipse of the decade on Thursday (December 26). But PM Modi was unable to witness the rare celestial phenomenon because of the thick cloud cover in Delhi. The prime minister, however, managed to catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts of India on the live stream.

"Like many Indians, I was enthusiastic about #solareclipse2019. Unfortunately, I could not see the Sun due to cloud cover but I did catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts on live stream. Also enriched my knowledge on the subject by interacting with experts," tweeted PM Modi.

Like many Indians, I was enthusiastic about #solareclipse2019.

Unfortunately, I could not see the Sun due to cloud cover but I did catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts on live stream. Also enriched my knowledge on the subject by interacting with experts. pic.twitter.com/EI1dcIWRIz

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2019

The solar eclipse was visible most prominently from South India, including Chennai and Thiruvanathapuram while Delhi, Mumbai and some other parts of India witnessed a partial solar eclipse. 

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. In Mumbai too, the people were unable to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse due to thick grey clouds looming over the city.

The partial phase of the eclipse began at 8 am followed by the annular phase which started at 9 am till 12.29 pm. The partial phase will end at 1.36 pm. In India, the obscuration of Sun by the Moon at the time of the greatest phase of the annular eclipse will be nearly 93 per cent.

The eclipse was also visible in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and some parts of Indonesia. The next solar eclipse visible from India, also an annular solar eclipse, will be on June 21, 2020.