GUWAHATI, April 30 – Assam is preparing to view the longest duration total solar eclipse that was last visible in the State way back in 1840 and would not be visible again in the State in the coming 900 years. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of Assam is supporting the massive plans of Guwahati Planetarium and Pragjyotish Amateur Astronomers Association to kindle the interest of the public in this celestial spectacle and encourage them to view the total solar eclipse through safe methods.
It needs to be mentioned here that this phenomenon of total solar eclipse was visible in the last century from Indian soil in the years 1980, 1995 and 1999. However these solar eclipses were not visible in totality from the North East including Assam.
This total solar eclipse that will be visible from Assam is going to occur on July 22 in the early morning and its duration would be for more than four minutes.
The government is going to launch a mass awareness campaign very soon to remove the superstition associated with the celestial spectacles and is going to distribute solar filters to all the schools in the State for viewing of the solar eclipse.
An official of Guwahati Planetarium, Babul Chandra Bora informed that thousands of solar filters have already been procured and several thousand more will be obtained soon. “We have decided to launch an awareness campaign so that people do not miss this rare opportunity to view the longest duration total solar eclipse,” he said, adding that myths and superstitions keep the people away from viewing such rare phenomenon.
On May 11 and 12, a master resource person training programme would be held at Guwahati Planetarium which will be followed by training of resource persons at the district level. “At the district level, we will mainly train the school teachers,” said Bora. The training will be given by clustering two or three districts.
The Guwahati Planetarium is buoyed by this phenomenon that would occur in the year that coincides with the 400 anniversary of the use of telescope by Galileo and the International Year of Astronomy declared by the UNESCO.
“Our target group also includes the rural folks as superstition is highly prevalent in the countryside,” said Bora mentioning that to create awareness amongst the rural masses about this coming phenomenon the electronic media would be used.
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