Solar Eclipse: Tiny village catapults to stardom

Come December 26, space enthusiasts will make a beeline for ‘Kutta,’ a tiny village in Kodagu district bordering Kerala.

The ‘diamond ring’ solar eclipse that day will be seen clearly from Kayamani area of Kutta.

There will be 99-100% accuracy for the sky spectacle in Kutta, say experts.

A team of scientists from Pune has been making special preparations at Kutta. As many as 1,000 students from Kodagu and Mysuru have been invited to witness the rare incident. A playground near a coffee plantation in Kutta is getting ready for the event. Special glasses will be distributed to the viewers.

Kutta and Birunani are at the exact point of 99-100% visibility of the eclipse, which will resemble a ring. The eclipse takes place from 8.05 am to
11 am and can be viewed at Kutta between 9 am and 9.30 am. The percentage of accuracy is 89.4 in Bengaluru, 84 in Chennai and 74 in
Mumbai.

“Eclipse with such accuracy cannot be witnessed in the near future after the one on December 26. So, nobody should miss this opportunity,” district Vijnana Parishat office-bearers said. They informed that students will be provided with special glasses at a subsidised rate by the Parishat. However the cloudy atmosphere may prove a dampener, they said.

State Vijnana Parishat district committee vice president Krishna Chaitanya said people from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra too have been arriving at Kutta to watch the solar eclipse.

The eclipse occurs when the moon comes in a straight line between the earth and the sun, making only the outer surface of the sun visible, as if it was a ring.