KATHMANDU: BP Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum Development Board has made arrangement for viewing the solar eclipse with the help of telescope from 8:00 am today.

Executive Director of the board Dr Sanat Kumar Sharma said arrangement has been made for general public to observe the solar eclipse through a telescope. According to Sharma solar filter has been fitted in the telescope based at the board’s office at Kirtipur to observing the eclipse safely.

Nepal Astronomical Society has also made arrangement for viewing the solar eclipse with the help of a telescope. This facility will be available for the interested people at the society’s office at Battisputali, President of the society Suresh Bhattarai said.

The board has also made public the facts related to the partial solar eclipse. It has shared with public the facts and figures of the eclipse to be observed from Kathmandu, Mahendranagar and Bhadrapur.

As per the facts shared by the board, the eclipse will start at 8.43 am in Kathmandu, at 8.38 am in Mahendranagar and at 8.48 am in Bhadrapur. The eclipse will reach its median time at 10.01 am in Kathmandu, at 9.52 am in Mahendranagar and at 9.59 am at Bhadrapur. The eclipse will end at 11.33 am in Kathmandu, at11.19 am in Mahendranagar and at 11.27 am in Bhadrapur.

Duration of the eclipse will be of two hours and 50 minutes in Kathmandu, two hours and 43 minutes in Mahendranagar and two hours and 53 minutes in Bhadrapur. The board said the percentage of the eclipse on the Sun in Kathmandu and Mahendranagar would be 39 while its percentage on the Sun in Bhadrapur will be 36. The solar eclipse, this time can be observed partially from Nepal in the form of penumbra. It can also be seen in the form of a ring on a band of around 100 kilometres from some parts of the Earth, according to Sharma.

Precautions

• Do not look directly at the sun
• Do not use homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark sunglasses
• Use special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers
• Read and follow filter instructions and supervise children
• At any stage of eclipse, do not look at the sun through a camera, binoculars or other optical device, and never use solar filters with these devices, as concentrated solar rays will damage them and can cause serious eye injury
• Inspect your solar filter before use. If it is scratched or damaged, discard the filter