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Above 300 odd Eclipse observers from Maharashtra enjoyed the unique Annular Solar Eclipse 2010 on the 15th of January 2010 from the Vivekanand Kendra in Kanyakumari with Khagol Mandal. Some of them had observed 2 or more Total solar eclipses. They had observed the Diamond ring in the past and it was now their turn to observe the Golden Neckless of the Sun.

At times their observation of eclipse had been marred by weather...i.e. clouds and rains.But this time it was a pure and sheer joy as the longest annular eclipse of the century was a feast for about 10 minute and so even occasional clouds could not take over the entire stage for the period.

Part of the group at Vivekanand Kendra

So spectacular was the sight that they all cheered up when their was complete annularity. The light intensity did not drop as mush as in case of totality but the effect was felt. As expressed by many...it was indeed a rarest opportunity that one gets in his or her lifetime and wont be available to the generations to come.

Photograph by Satish Doiphode	Photograph by Ravindra Waghmare
Photograph by Satish Doiphode, through his Meade - 114mm Mirror dia and 1000 mm Focal length.	Shadows during Eclipse captured by Ravindra Waghmare on T-shirt
Photograph by Milind Kale	Photograph by Milind Kale

Annular Solar Eclipse of 15th Jan 2010

Written by Khagol Mandal News

Comments of viewers immediately after watching the Sun's ring at 13.25 Hrs from Kanyakumari:

Sagar Kerkar (President) : Watching the ring was a different experience. Fascinating and glad that I could get this once in a lifetime opportunity. People have enjoyed watching the eclipse with Khagol Mandal

Dilip Joshi (Founder memebr): Watched for 10 minutes . Somewhat cloudy but could see the ring nicely as the length was more. People are overwhelmed. Its a lifetimetime experience.

Varsha Shukla: I had watched total solar eclipses but this is also a unique experience.

Vilas Deshmukh (Ex- President of Khagol Mandal) : Light level did not reduce to the extent it reduces as in case of Totality. But the effect is felt. Weather was nice, though somewhat cloudy, Fascinated by the lifetime experience.

Hrishikesh Joglekar from Hyderabad :Many people saw partial solar eclipse from HITEC City, Hyderabad. Eclipse began at 11:30am, it was partially cloudy. However after 12pm, the cloud cover was too thick for the eclipse to be seen. Clouds thinned down a bit near the moment of maximum eclipse which occurred at 1:30pm and many people were able to see the eclipsed Sun using pinhole camera. During the maximum eclipse, 77% of Solar disk was eclipsed.

Obs from Marathi Vidnyan Parishad's Terrace

Watching Eclise from the terrace of MVP in Mumbai

Image Credit: NASA

For Mumbai:

Partial Solar Eclipse

Maximum phase: 0.645

Beginning of the partial eclipse: 11h 16m 9s

Maximum phase: 13h 17m 40s

Ending of the partial eclipse: 15h 4m 8s

Position angles:

Beginning of the partial eclipse: 223.0°

Ending of the partial eclipse: 75.0°

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For Kanyakumari:

Annular Solar Eclipse

Maximum phase: 0.919

Beginning of the partial eclipse: 11h 5m 45s

Beginning of the annular eclipse: 13h 9m 55s

Maximum phase: 13h 14m 55s

Ending of the annular eclipse: 13h 19m 53s

Ending of the partial eclipse: 15h 5m 31s

Position angles:

Beginning of the partial eclipse: 239.3°

Ending of the partial eclipse: 55.1°

Astronomy Quiz Competition in Badlapur

Written by Nitin Chonkar

Khagol Mandal, Badlapur Unit conductedInter-school Quiz Competition in Astronomy on 27^th Dec 2009 atBadlapur. Rotary Club of Badlapur Industrial Area Sponsored this Programme.

51 students from 7 different schoolsparticipated in the competition. By written test following 3 top scoringschools were selected for quiz competition.

I.E.S. Katrap High School(Marathi Medium)
Yogi Shree Arvind Gurukul
Fatima High School

Out of these three Katrap High School scored 152 points, while Arvind Gurukul 50 and Fatima 60 points in the QuizCompetition.

Badlapur 2009 Quiz Competition Winners Receiving the Shield

Prizes:

I.E.S. Katrap High School won the Shield.
Every participant from above three schools was presented a gift coupon to purchase a book.
Three top scoring students in written test were presented gift coupons to purchase a book.