Suraj Girhan 2022: Will Pakistan see the first solar eclipse of this year?

KARACHI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said Monday that the year 2022 will witness its first solar eclipse on the night between April 30 and May 1.

However, the Met department said that the phenomenon will not be visible from Pakistan as it will occur at midnight, according to Pakistan Standard Time (PST).

A brief statement issued by the PMD stated that the solar eclipse will be partial and will be visible from southern South America, parts of Antarctica, and over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The different phases of solar eclipse will occur at:

• Partial eclipse begins at 23:45pm PST (30th April)
• Maximum eclipse at 01:42am PST (01st May)
• Partial eclipse ends at 03:38am PST (01st May)

What is a solar eclipse?

A total eclipse is when the Moon and the Sun line up in the sky in such a way that the Moon blocks the entire face of the Sun – called totality. Somewhere on the Earth these occur approximately every 18 months.

But we can’t all experience totality every time as the shadow of the Moon tracks a narrow path over the surface of the Earth. Any given point on the Earth is only likely to experience this approximately once every 375 years.

Being able to view a total solar eclipse strongly depends on your location and having cloudless skies (or at least patchy clouds). Even though totality is not very common, you’ll likely have many partial solar eclipses from your location over the years. If you’re lucky enough to be in the path of a total or partial eclipse, get prepared and know what to expect.