Jan 15 Solar Eclipse

The solar eclipse on January 15 will be visible to northern parts of Sri Lanka as an annular solar eclipse and to the southern parts of the country as a partial solar eclipse covering nearly 90 percent of the solar disk at maximum by the moon.

The eclipse is visible to Sri Lanka from about 11.11 a.m. to 3.12 p.m. There will be slight variation of visibility times depend on the location. This is the first time that a centre line of an solar eclipse crosses Sri Lanka since the total eclipse of June 20, 1955 and therefore considered as a very important eclipse.

A photographic competition of the January 15 solar eclipse has been organized by the Institute of Physics, Sri Lanka Professional and Amateur Photographers can send their eclipse related photographs to The Eclipse Photography Competition, Institute of Physics Sri Lanka, 120/10, Vidya Mandiraya, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07 on or before January 30.

Photographs taken on the direct eclipse with some scientific value or showing its effects such as shadows under a leafy tree etc with some artistic nature can be submitted in sizes larger than 4R.

Some information on taking solar eclipse photographs is available at http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/eclipsePhoto.html NASA website.

For details contact Dr. Chandana Jayaratne, The President, Institute of Physics Sri Lanka on 0714 800800 between noon and 1.00 p.m. or 9.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. Certificates and awards will be given to winners of this competition.

Meanwhile, the Mathematical and Astronomical Society (MAS) of the University of Colombo is organizing a competition to select the best live webcast designed for January 15 Annular Solar Eclipse. Those who wish to participate should made a live webcast on the solar eclipse of January 15 as seen from their location.

The aim of this competition is to promote science and technology among the public using such rare celestial events while providing the public a scientific idea about how the appearance of a solar eclipse changes from location to location at a given time.

School astronomy societies and individuals who wish to participate at this competition can link their websites to the University of Colombo MAS web site www.uocmas.info and the public can also view the Sun and the eclipse through this website from about 11.11 a.m. to 3.12 p.m. on January 15, said Dr. Jayaratne. Interested parties should send in an e-mail with their links to MAS e-mail address team@uocmas.info. For technical support contact web masters Asiri on 071 6365753 and Amal on 071 5122558. A certificate and an award will be given to the winners.