By Muhammad Luqman
An annular solar eclipse, also called the “Ring of Fire”, was witnessed on Sunday across Pakistan as well as in China, northern India, and parts of Africa and Europe.
An annular solar eclipse is a celestial event when the moon comes in between the earth and the sun, leaving the sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around the moon.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the partial eclipse began at 8:46am. However, the annular eclipse began by 9:20 am from Gwader and was later witnessed in other cities of the country.
At approximately 11:40am, the moon was said to have completely eclipsed the sun. However, it ended at 2.34 p.m.
Ring of Fire was witnessed in Sukkur as the sun was hidden the most, 98.78 per cent, at 11:07am. It was followed by Gwadar, where the moon covered 97 per cent of the sun by 10:48am.
The eclipse was also visible in Islamabad from 9:50am to 1:36pm, in Karachi from 9:26am to 12:46pm, in Lahore from 9:48am to 1:10pm, in Peshawar from 9:48am to 1:02pm, Quetta from 9:35am to 12:49pm, Gilgit from 9:56am to 1:08pm and in Muzaffarabad from 9:52am to 1:07pm.
اس سال چھ گرہن ہونے ہیں، چار چاند گرہن اور دو سورج گرہن۔اس سال کا دوسرا گرہن 14 دسمبر کو ہو گا لیکن وہ پاکستان میں نہیں دیکھا جا سکے گا۔ آج مکمل سورج گرہن سکھر اور اس کے گردو نواح میں ہے باقی علاقوں میں جزوی گرہن ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) June 21, 2020
This is the first of the two solar eclipses that will be seen this year. The second eclipse will occur on December 14, but it will not be visible in Pakistan.
The solar eclipse will be witnessed in Pakistan in the year 2022.
