The 2nd Partial Solar Eclipse of 2022 was celebrated by PAAC in a fashion similar to the Annular Eclipse of 2019.
The Sunset Partial Solar Eclipse, as we called it, was a spectacular sight from Malpe Beach. PAAC had organized an eclipse viewing event there with the help of Malpe Development Committee, who organized the event on location and the Poornaprajna Old Students’ Association which provided us with the 500 Eclipse Viewing Goggles.
PAAC organized this program at the Beach as the Eclipse would start an hour before Sunset and would end after… Giving us a view of the Eclipsed Sun setting over the horizon. With its pristine beaches, Udupi was the best spot to view the eclipse and we were already there.
The MDC arranged for us, a stage, an LED screen and sound system.. And that is all that PAAC needed. Because we at PAAC were ready with an 8-inch reflector telescope, a 4-inch refractor telescope and 3-inch refractor scope with zoom, all of which were powered with Solar Filters, we also had a 3-inch refractor on equatorial mount that was setup especially for constant tracking of the Sun to project it on the LED screen and also Live on our YouTube Channel.
Equipment aside, students of PAAC were also ready to show, everyone present, the eclipse and were equipped with 500 Goggles. They also had ready, 15 Pin Hole Projector boxes, A pin hole projector and had decorated the venue with several posters and charts on Astronomy.
A large crowd gathered as Dinesh Hebbar and Shubhashri Shenoy, PAAC alumni started speaking over the mic and from that moment on, for the next one hour, as the eclipse began to grow and the sun approached the horizon, they spoke about how eclipses occur, what’s so special about eclipses and other eclipse related topics.
As Chief Guests, we had Sri Kurma Rao, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of Udupi District, Sri Raghupati Bhat, MLA – Udupi and Sri Yashpal Suvarna – Chairman of Dakshina Kannada & Udupi Cooperative Fish marketing Federation Ltd. who joined us and viewed the eclipse.
We also had Dr. P. Shreeramana Aithal, Vice-Chancellor of Srinivas University and Dr. A.P. Bhat, Former Principal of Poornaprajna College with us as guests of honor.
And the Eclipse…. What a sight it was. Slowly turning Red, the Sun got lower and lower as the Moon climbed in on the solar disk.
And the last 5 minutes were pure bliss as everyone present could watch the eclipse with their naked eyes without any solar filter – safely!
Some PAAC Members came from far off places to capture the eclipse and they did so beautifully.
We had Aravinda Kudla who captured the setting eclipse, so beautifully that watching the video is mesmerizing.
And then there was Adithya who came from Sringeri to document the eclipse, probably for his future research on the Sun. Here’s what he captured – The Entire Eclipse:
And then there’s this special capture… PAAConomer Mohammad Hashim who recently flew to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and couldn’t join PAAC for the event. Nonetheless, he captured the eclipse from his location on mobile and sent it to us.
And that’s how PAAC watches Solar Eclipses. We don’t just observe… We observe, document, raise awareness and Celebrate them.
