ECCLIPSE 99

UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
Department of Mathematics
Astronomy Program
Program Director: Professor Dr. Syed Arif Kamal

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The 2008-Partial-Solar Eclipse-Expedition
The 2006-Partial-Solar Eclipse-Expedition
The 1999-Total-Solar-Eclipse Expedition
The 1995-Total-Solar Eclipse-Expedition
The "News" International Report

Image Gallery

<webshots.com>

All the expeditions were headed by
Professor Dr. Syed Arif Kamal.

The 2008-Partial-Solar-Eclipse
Expedition

The Partial-Solar Eclipse of
Friday, August 1, 2008

The partial-solar eclipse of Friday, August 1, 2008 was observed by the University of Karachi Team
to verify the effects observed during the partial eclipse, which took place in 2006. The eclipse started at 1640h, with moon covering the sun from the upper-right-hand side. At 1740h maximum coverage was achieved, with one-third of the solar disk from the top obscured by moon. The moon, then started drifting away towards left and made a complete exit from the upper-left side at 1826h. No effects on temperature, wind pattern and bird behavior were observed, which confirmed the findings of the 2006 Expedition.

The 2006-Partial-Solar-Eclipse Expedition

The Partial-Solar Eclipse of Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The partial-solar eclipse of Wednesday, March 29, 2006 started at 1553h. The moon started covering the sun from the lower-right-hand side. At 1635h maximum coverage was achieved, with one-third of the solar disk from the right invidsible because of presence of moon. The moon, then started drifting away towards top and made a complete exit from the upper-right side at 1720h. There were no effects of eclipse on temperature, wind pattern and bird behavior, as opposed to the observations during the total expeditions of 1995 and 1999.

The 1999-Total-Solar-Eclipse Expedition

The Last-Total-Solar Eclipse of the Second Millennium (Wednesday, August 11, 1999)

A team of University of Karachi observed and studied last-total-solar-eclipse of the second millennium at the University Campus on August 11, 1999. The eclipse started at 1618h (Pakistan Standard Time). The moon started to cover the solar disk from the bottom right. Totality was achieved at 1726h lasting for 73 seconds. At 1727h the moon started drifting and the golden crescent started appearing from the bottom right. The sun looked like a golden crescent during the partial solar eclipse. The solar eclipse ended at 1827h. The weather was cloudy. However, a few good glimpses of the sun were obtained through special goggles made from locally-available material. Although, total eclipse could be observed from the naked eye (be, extremely, careful, if you exercise this option, not to get involved in the view and forget to put on back the protective glasses as soon as the partial phase reappears — failure to do so may result in permanent damage to eye sight), total-UV-cutoff sunglasses were worn during the observation of total phase as extra protection. As the totality was being achieved, the birds become disoriented and a drop in the ambient temperature was felt. During the totality planet Venus was observed near the top left of the darkened solar disk. Head of this team also led the Mathematics Department, University of Karachi Team, which observed the total solar eclipse on October 24, 1995 at Kirali Farms, Ahmadpur Sharqia, Punjab, Pakistan. Before the start of eclipse our team organized educational programs in the Mathematics Department to create interest in the phenomenon and warn people against directly viewing the sun during the partial phase. The rteam confirmed violation of Kepler’s second law of planetary motion, first noticed during the 1995 Expedition.

The 1995-Total-Solar-Eclipse Expedition

The Total-Solar Eclipse of Wednesday, October 25, 1995

The total-solar eclipse of October 24, 1995 was observed by Department of Mathematics, University of Karachi Team in Kirali Farms, Ahmadpur Sharqia, Punjab, Pakistan. Other teams present on the site were those of Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA), Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), University of Bahawalpur as well as a team from Japan.

The solar eclipse was observed through special viewing glasses made by exposing ASA 100 films completely in front of the sun. As per recommendations of IAU two layers of the completely exposed film mounted on frames provided sufficient protection to the eyes. Telescopes, cameras and video recording equipment were also employed to record the eclipse. Local children were seen observing the eclipse through leaves.

The eclipse started at 0655h (Pakistan Standard Time) and achieved totality at 0758h. The totality, visible for 40 seconds, ended at 0759h. The golden crescent started appearing from the top and the sun regained its uneclipsed circular shape at 0910h. There was, therefore, an asymmetry present in the time span from start of the eclipse to assume the totality and the time span from out of the totality to end of the eclipse suggesting a variable aerial velocity (violation of the Kepler’s second law of planetary motion). Following were the salient features of this astronomical event:

•	Weather was ideal for observations with a clear sky.
•	As the moon started to cover the surface of sun, birds became disoriented.
•	As the moon proceeded to cover the entire surface there was a sharp drop of temperature. The temperature becoming normal as soon as the total eclipse ended.
•	As the totality was being achieved wind suddenly stopped.
•	The rooster gave its morning cry as the totality was being achieved.
•	A star was observed on the sky during the total phase.
•	The diamond ring was seen during the total phase. There was a greenish prominence present for a few seconds.
•	Seconds before the end of total darkness the black circle changed into an ellipse of eccentricity 0.26 with its minor axis parallel to the horizon.

Extract from a paper "The planetary-orbit modeling based on the astrodynamical coördinates" by Syed Arif Kamal presented during the Pakistan Institute of Physics International Conference, Government College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1997.

THE "News" International, Karachi: Text of the Report — August 13, 1999 (Page 2)

Eclipse Makes Eventful Revelations
by our Correspondent

KARACHI. A team of academicians and their assistants observed Venus in the sky during the 73-second period of total darkness besides witnessing the violation of Kepler’s second law of planetary motion in the form of variation in aerial velocity.

A team of scientists from the University of Karachi, headed by Associate Professor of Mathematics Dr. Syed Arif Kamal, observed and studied last solar eclipse of the second millennium from the campus. The team leader had also led the Mathematics Department team, which observed the total solar eclipse on October 24, 1995 at Kirali Farms, Ahmadpur Sharqia.

As per their observations, the diamond ring was seen during the total solar eclipse with a greenish tinge for a few seconds. Seconds before the end of total darkness, the black circle changed to an oval shape with the minor axis parallel to the horizon and eccentricity 0.26.

The team, also, comprising of Assistant Professor of Physics Naseeruddin and graduate students Aminuddin, Muhammad Ashar Hashmi and Nowsherwan, after witnessing the rare event of a complete solar eclipse have put further details on the Internet

A brief report, also, appeared in the "JANG" (Karachi) on August 12, 1999 (page 10, column 5)

Image Gallery

Head of the 2008-Partial-Solar-Eclipse Expedition observing the eclipse
Sun covered by moon at the top on August 1, 2008

A beautiful view downloaded from webshots

Last Updated: November 1, 2008 (0000h GMT)

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