Baily's beads,photographed by Tobias kamschulte from Thiruvananathapuram,Kerala
Stunning photographs by Tobias Kampschulte and other German Eclipse Chasers who were there at Thiruvananthapuram with AASTRO for the ASE watch can be viewed from the link :' .
Prof.Dr.Susanne Huttmeister,Director,Zeiss Planetarium,Germany is addressing the audience during the inaugural function
Amatuer Astronomers Organisation,AASTRO Kerala is now the youngest amateur astronomy organization in the world: The German eclipse expedition team was invited to formally launch it on 14 January in Trivandrum.Daniel Fischer,Science Writer and International Astronomical Union Member from University of Bonn,Germany made the official declaration More than 250 astronomy enthusiasts were present for the Inaugural function at Priyadarshini Planetarium Hal.Prof.K.Pappootty,President,AASTRO kerala presided the function..Celebrated personalities in science popularisation and allied fields were present.Prof.Dr.Susanne Hüttemeister,Director of Zeiss Planetarium,Germany delivered a talk on Astronomy after the official function
An exhibition was also arranged by AASTRO volunteers in the venue which revealed the beauty of the Cosmos.
In connection with the inauguration and Annular Solar Eclipse outreach activities,AASTRO arranged talks,interactions and various programmes in different colleges in the city.
The solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 was an of the with a of 0.9190. A solar eclipse occurs when the passes between and the , thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's is smaller than the Sun, causing the sun to look like an (ring), blocking most of the Sun's light. An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region thousands of kilometers wide.
It was the longest annular of the millennium, and the longest until December 23, 3043, with a maximum length of 11 mins and 7.8 seconds. (The , was longer, at 11 minutes, 41 seconds, occurring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)
The eclipse was visible as only a partial eclipse in much of , , the and . It was seen as an annular eclipse within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, , South (India), South (), and parts of , and .
The eclipse started in the , traversed , and , passed through , entered the and reached its greatest eclipse over the Indian Ocean.After that it entered , where it was the longest on land with 10.8 viewable minutes. This made the tiny islands of Maldives the best spot for viewing this eclipse from land. The annular eclipse at Malé, the capital city of Maldives, started at 12:20:20 and ended at 12:30:06 Maldives local time (UTC+5). This was also the longest duration of any eclipse with an international airport in its track.
At approximately 13:20 , the annular solar eclipse entered India at (Trivandrum), and exited India at , ..The eclipse was viewable for 10.4 minutes in India. After Rameswaram, it entered Sri Lanka at , exited at in Sri Lanka, crossed the and re-entered India in Thiruvananthapuram, which was the entry point of the eclipse in India, was equipped with telescopes and announced facilities for the public to view the eclipse., situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse. Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse. AASTRO made special arrangements and its photography team to chase the eclipse.
At , the Sunrise was not visible due to thick cloud all around the sky. But it started getting clear at around 9 AM local time and became almost totally clear by the time Eclipse began. But sky had a thin layer of Cyrus cloud till 2:30PM making things a little bit tough for the serious Eclipse chasers. , which falls on the central line of the eclipse, was a good place to view the eclipse. The northern most limit of shadow in India was Cuddalore, Neyveli, Erode, Kodaikanal, Madurai. Other prime viewing locations in Tamil Nadu include and , 22 km north of the center line.The exact location of the line is between the NH end and the Dhanushkodi ruins. Dhanushkodi is about 2 km east of the central line. The degree difference is about 0.2 between the central line – Kodandaramar Temple and Dhanushkodi ruins vice versa. Dhanushkodi is about 5 km from the Kodandaramar Temple.
After South Asia, annularity passed and before leaving the Earth.
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Eclipse picture from Thiruvananthapuram,Soth Kerala, where the eclipse was 94%
