A file picture of members of SWAN viewing the solar eclipse from the outskirts of Siliguri on June 22

Siliguri, Dec. 23: Members of the Sky Watchers’ Association of North Bengal (SWAN) are at work again.

This time, 11 sky gazers from the association will travel over 3,000km to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu to witness the ring of fire or the annular solar eclipse on January 15.

This phenomenon will be seen from India after 30 years. The ring was last seen from the sub-continent in 1980 and will be seen again in 2019.

“Unlike in total solar eclipse, which we had witnessed on July 22, a diamond ring will not be seen this time as the shadow of the moon will not cover the sun entirely. The annular eclipse will be visible from some parts in south India. The most preferred location is Rameshwaram,” Debasis Sarkar, the secretary of SWAN, said at a news conference here today.

The team will try to move further down to Dhanuskodi, 18km from Rameshwaram, where the duration of the eclipse would be the longest.

According to Sarkar, the path of the annular eclipse will begin from Africa and cover south India before moving to Bangladesh and Myanmar, and ending in China.

The moon’s shadow will touch the Indian sub-continent around 12.37pm and leave around 1.18pm.

The SWAN team, equipped with telescopes, cameras, imagers and other equipment, has drawn up a comprehensive plan for the day including detail photo coverage.

“During the annular eclipse the sunrays that will fall on the earth will take the shape of a sickle. In places like Rameshwaram, where the ring of fire will be visible, the reflections would take the shape of numerous small rings.”

Last time, the sky gazers here missed the diamond ring because of cloudy weather. “The chance of missing it is always there but, we are keeping our fingers crossed,” Avik Chakraborty, a member of the association said.

In Siliguri, SWAN sources said, the partial eclipse will begin at 12.14pm. In Darjeeling it will begin from 12.14pm. In Jalpaiguri one can witness it from 12.14pm, in Cooch Behar from 12.15pm. People in Raiganj can see the phenomenon from 12.11pm. In Balurghat the eclipse will begin from 12.12pm, in Malda it will begin from 12.10pm and in Gangtok it will be seen at 12.15pm.