Amazing Facts About Today's Solar Eclipse

Astronomers and sky gazers are waiting for the last solar eclipse of this year which will occur on December 4, Saturday. The celestial event will be visible from Antarctica, while people in the southern tip of South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand will be able to see a partial eclipse. In India, we will not able to see the solar eclipse.

Solar eclipses occur when the Moon positions itself between the Sun and the Earth, blocking out the Sun's light from reaching us.

US space agency NASA has made arrangements to livestream the event from Union Glacier, Antarctica. It will be streamed on YouTube and NASA Live.

The solar eclipse will begin at 10:59 am in India. The totality phase will begin at 12:30 pm and it will reach its peak at 1:03 pm. By 1:33 pm, the full eclipse will end. The partial eclipse will conclude at 3:07 pm. The totality phase is likely to be not more than 1 minute 54 seconds.

Here are some interesting facts about solar eclipses:

-- A total solar eclipse takes place when the Sun, Moon, and the Earth align in a direct line.

-- NASA says a total solar eclipse can be noticed only after the Moon covers more than 90 percent of the Sun.

-- The maximum possible solar eclipses -- partial, annular, or total -- that can occur in a year is five. And there are at least two solar eclipses per year visible from somewhere on the Earth.

-- Those living in North and South Poles can view only partial solar eclipses.

This would be the last solar eclipse of 2021.