New Delhi

A partial eclipse of the sun began in India on Tuesday evening and it will be visible for the longest duration from Dwarka in Gujarat.

The partial eclipse is visible over most of India including some parts in the northeast.

The ending of the eclipse will not be visible from India as it will be in progress after sunset.

The obscuration of the sun by the moon will be approximately between 40 and 50 percent at the time of the maximum eclipse in the north-western parts of the country. In other parts of the country, the percentage coverage will be less.

In Delhi and Mumbai, the percentage coverage of the sun by the moon at the time of the greatest eclipse will be around 44 per cent and 24 per cent respectively.

The duration of eclipse from the beginning up to sunset time will be one hour and thirteen minutes in Delhi and one hour and nineteen minutes in Mumbai.

In Chennai and Kolkata, the duration of the eclipse from the beginning up to sunset time will be 31 minutes and 12 minutes respectively.

In Dwarka, the partial sun eclipse will be visible for one hour and forty-four-and-a-half minutes. The partial solar eclipse occurred a day after Diwali.

The eclipse is visible in the region covering Europe, the Middle East, north-eastern parts of Africa, western Asia, the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Indian Ocean.

India will witness a total solar eclipse on August 2, 2027.

 An official release said eclipsed sun should not be viewed with the naked eye, even for a very short time.

It will cause permanent damage of the eyes leading to blindness even when the moon covers most portion of the Sun. Safe technique to observe the solar eclipse is either by using a proper filter like aluminized mylar, black polymer, welding glass of shade number 14 or by making a projection of the sun's image on a white board by telescope.