The center line of this annular eclipse in our country runs from Mannar to Vakarai. The eclipse which enters the Island from Mannar will be visible in Jaffna at 9.34 a.m. It will last for only four minutes.Thus it will end at 9.38 a.m. The previous annular eclipse which took place on January 15, 2010 was visible in Jaffna for about 10 minutes. But this time it will be limited to less than 4 minutes.

This annular eclipse which starts in Saudi Arabia goes over northern Sri Lanka and again over the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and ends at about 12.20 p.m. Above the Pacific Ocean. In Indonesia the path of the eclipse falls over the island of Sumatra and the greatest eclipse will be visible at a place called Paden at about 10.47 a.m. This annular eclipse will last for five hours.The annular eclipse will be visible as a partial eclipse in Kilinochchi. Those living in Anuradhapura will see about 87% of the Sun covered by the Moon, whereas people in Colombo will see about 84% of the Sun covered.

According to astronomy,the Sun and the Moon will be in the constellation of Sagittarius on December 26. In the annual movement of the Sun across the Zodiac, the Sun is always in ‘Sagittarius’ from December 22 to January 19. The peculiarity of this date is that another five planets namely, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto will also be in ‘Sagittarius.’ Further, since Mars will be in the ‘Scorpio’ during this period, it will affect the weather not only in our country but throughout the world.