Taregna to host lakhs for watching solar eclipse

More than a thousand years afterastronomer Aryabhatta (or Aryabhatha, 476-550 AD) set up acamp to study movement of stars, all roads lead to the sameTaregna village this year to witness the total solar eclipse,the longest in the 21st century, on Wednesday.

'Taregna', the name of the village about 30 kms south ofBihar capital Patna, has a startling phonetic similarity with'tare ginna', the Hindi equivalent of 'counting of stars'.

The village, adjudged the best place to view the celestialphenomena by the NASA, was expected to host about two lakhscientists, researchers and 'astro-tourists' from across theglobe to witness the eclipse.

The duration of the eclipse in Taregna will be 3 minutes48 seconds. However, the maximum duration of the eclipse wouldbe six minutes 38 seconds, as visible from the Pacific Ocean.

Divisional Commissioner Sunil Barthwal said the stategovernment would provide the visitors with all facilities.

The scientists said they would be studying atmosphericionization, geomagnetism, asteroids, animals and avianbehavioural changes as well as impact on micro-organismsduring, before and after the eclipse.

The scientists were also expected to discover asteroids,which existed only in the world of hypothesis, they said.

Most of the rooms in the hotels in Patna have beenbooked in advance by the scientists, researchers andtourists. Teams of experts from Science PopularisationAssociation of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), a Delhibased NGO, and NASA, are also reaching here, officials said.

The Patna planetarium is receiving heavy rush for buyingspecial spectacles at Rs 20 per piece as people don't want tomiss the opportunity, sources said.

Tour operators have made special arrangements to cash inon this occasion and have already received a overwhelmingresponse.

Cox and Kings, the reputed travel agency, has claimed thata group of both amateur astronomers and others have booked aBoeing-737 for the two-hour journey from Delhi to Gaya inBihar, specially to watch the solar eclipse which will beginat 5.30 am and last for about two hours.

But there is also a cloud of uncertainty. Scientists wereconcerned about the visibility of the cosmic event as it ismonsoon and whether the horizon would be cloud free during thetime of the eclipse, just after sunrise, in Indian locationslike Taregna.

According to legends, Taregna had a camp set up byAryabhatta to watch the celestial bodies. He was probably inPatliputra when he wrote 'Aryabhatiya', his lone work tosurvive, containing his theories on mathematics and astronomy.The first Indian satellite, launched on April 19, 1975, fromerstwhile Soviet Union, was named after the great astronomer.