Visit to Kannur - The Annular Solar Eclipse by Ajit Chandrasekhar

Visit to Kannur – The Annular Solar Eclipse

by

Ajit Chandrasekhar

My wish was to see the annular solar eclipse. My wish was fulfilled in 2019 when my family expressed their desire to see the eclipse. 

Indira and I checked where the eclipse would be visible. It was visible in many places in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. When we finally checked where the best place was to view the eclipse, it was Kannur.

The eclipse was visible on 26th December 2019, Boxing Day.

We were a group of thirteen – James, Indira, Mira, Jai, Amma and myself, Sam, Kusha, Louisa, Varun, Karthika, Aniki and Arshia.

We left Bangalore on the afternoon of the 22nd of December. We flew from Bengaluru. We reached Kannur in the evening just as the sun was setting. It was lovely to see the sunset by the sea. We stayed in the Kanaka Guesthouse. We had an early dinner and went to bed. The rooms were comfortable.

The next day, Mira, Indi, Jai and I went to the Kannur Fort and St Angelo’s church. Came back for lunch. 

The following day, 24th December, was Mira’s birthday. The guesthouse was all lit up because it was Christmas Eve. There was a cake with Mira’s face from a photo on it. James got it. It was fantastic.

Christmas Day was spent quietly. In the evening we all swam in the sea, including me. I had had a swim even the previous days. James and Jai took me. That night the carol singers came and sang.

On 26th December we all had an early start and we had to be in our seats by 7:45 am since the eclipse would begin just after 8 am. We had special goggles to view the eclipse. The first contact was at 8:06 am from the 12 o’ clock position. The moon gradually started covering the sun. And by 9:20 the sun was fully obscured. It looked like a silver bangle in the sky. It was really spectacular. The show lasted three minutes. The sky was not fully dark and the tide surged. 

After the eclipse, we all went back to our rooms. We all had one more swim in the sea in the evening.

The next morning, after breakfast, we all left Kannur for Bengaluru and reached home in the afternoon. 

It was a fantastic holiday and we saw an annular eclipse which not many others we know have seen. An annular eclipse is such a rare event that one can only see it once in a lifetime and I am thankful to Indi, James, Mira and Jai for making the trip possible.

Excerpt of Original Text in Ajit's Hand

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Ajit Chandrasekhar is a Bangalore-based writer and artist.

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