First solar eclipse of 2022 coincides with new moon- Details of Surya Grahan inside

The first solar eclipse of 2022 took place on Saturday, April 30, 2022. It was a partial solar eclipse and was visible to people in parts of southern South America, Antarctica, and the Pacific and Southern Oceans. According to TimeandDate.com, the solar eclipse began at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) in the far southeastern Pacific near the coast of Antarctica and lasted for around four hours, ending at 6:37 p.m. EDT (2237 GMT) over the south Atlantic Ocean. It can be known that the eclipse of April 30 also coincided with the second new moon of the month, also referred to as Black Moon.

Though the eclipse was visible only at few places like in Chile, Argentina, most of Uruguay, western Paraguay, southwestern Bolivia, southeastern Peru, South Pacific Ocean, among others, people in other parts of the world were also able to see it with the help of live telecast. For the uninitiated, a solar eclipse, or Surya Grahan, happens when the Moon moves exactly between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth, fully or partially blocking the Sun’s light in some areas.

During a partial eclipse, the Moon and Sun are not perfectly aligned, so the Moon does not completely cover the Sun. This gives the Sun a crescent shape, or makes it appear as if a “bite” has been taken out of the Sun, depending on how much of the Sun is covered by the Moon. While for a total solar eclipse to take place, the Sun, Moon, and Earth must be in a direct line, according to NASA.

People who missed the chance to witness the partial solar eclipse on April 30, 2022 will now have to wait for the month of October to see one. The next partial solar eclipse will take place on October 25,2022 and will be visible in Europe, Western Asia and Northeast Africa. Well before that, a total lunar eclipse will take place this month that is on May 15.