Superstitions, Rahukala etc in India

Rahukala - Is there any meaning?

According to the traditional belief, it is the inauspicious time slot of the day, when one should avoid starting any important venture or activity, such as business dealings, buying and selling, investments, travel, relationships and medical treatments.

Rahukala is associated with the mythical 'planet' Rahu which is closely connected to the other mythical 'planet' Kethu.

A Little Mythology

Rahu literally means 'the seizer'. Ketu literally means 'bright appearance, clearness, brightness'.

Rahu and Ketu are the last two of the nine planets or grahas . In astronomy they are the ascending and descending nodes of the moon respectively.

Rahu is believed to be the cause of eclipses. Sometimes the name is used to designate the eclipse itself. Ketu is believed to be a comet who gave birth to numerous other comets.

Mythologically, Rahu was a four-armed, dragon-tailed demon called Svarabhanu. Sometimes he is represented as a black man riding a horse. He is believed to have been a great mischief-maker. When amrita arose from the churning of the ocean (see samudra manthan) and was being distributed to the gods who stood in a line to receive it, Svarabhanu is said to have disguised himself and joined them. The sun and the moon detected this mischief and reported it to Vishnu who immediately cut off his head. The head became Rahu and the body became Ketu. However, because the demon had drunk a bit of the amrita, he attained immortality and his body was placed in the stellar sphere.

It is believed that Rahu traverses the heaven in his eight-horsed chariot and tries to devour the sun and the moon for denouncing him. Whenever he succeeds in whole or in part, an eclipse of the sun or the moon takes place. Hence to this day, whenever an eclipse is noticed, people make noises, shouting, blowing horns and beating drums to drive away Rahu and thus restore the sun and the moon.

Rahu and Ketu are believed to be inauspicious and fierce. If a person is born under the influence of these planets, it is considered extremely inauspicious for them. Such persons are believed to have no peace, they are exposed to enemies, and their wisdom, riches and children are willed to be destroyed. Various yagyas and japas are enjoined to pacify these planets.

The effects of Rahu are said to be at a peak at certain parts of the day. There are many ways through which the exact time of this can be calculated. During this time, called Rahu-kala, many people cease all work and refrain from speech. No ceremony or new project begins at this inauspicious time.

Back to Rahukala. Let's for arguments sake say that there is some meaning in observing these time rules. Let's first see how the Rahu Kala is listed and how it is observed by the masses.

Rahu Kala for Sri Lanka

For Day and Night both, According to "Lanka Panchanga Grahasputa Litha" for the year 2001 (Sunrise 6 am sunset 6 pm ). This is more or less correct because Sri Lanka is very close to the equator, so sunrise and sunset are approximately at 6.00 througout the year, with minor variations of maximum 10 minutes.

Rahukala:
Sunday 4.30 - 6.00
Monday 7.30 - 9.00
Tuesday 3.00- 4.30
Wed. 12.00 - 1.30
Thursday1.30 - 3.00
Friday 10.30-12.00
Saturday 9.00-10.30

Rahu Kala for Bangalore

(as listed at http://www.southnexus.com/ for the month of November 2001)

Sunday ( 4, 11, 18, 25 ) : Rahu Kala 4.30-6.00
Monday ( 5, 12, 19, 26 ) : Rahu Kala 7.30-9.00
Tuesday ( 6,13, 20, 27 ) : Rahu Kala 3.00- 4.30
Wednesday ( 7, 14, 21, 28 ) : Rahu Kala 12.00-1.30
Thursday ( 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 ) : Rahu Kala 1.30- 3.00
Friday ( 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 ) : Rahu Kala 10.30-12.00
Saturday ( 3, 10, 17, 24 ) : Rahu Kala 9.00-10.30

Basically exactly the same as for Sri Lanka. If you look at our calendars (Mathrubhumi, Deepika, Kerala Kaumudi, Manorama, Hindustan Times, Times of India,...) we see that the Rahu Kala listed is exactly the same as above. The same for the whole India!

Can this be Correct?

Rahu Kala changes according to day of the week, and more importantly for our discussion, it also changes according to the time of sun rise and sun set!

It is a different if you live in Northern hemisphere or the Southern hemisphere. Even in the Northern hemisphere, it varies depending upon how near/far you live from the equator. To calculate Rahu Kala correctly, you have to find the times of sun rise and sun set for the particular day and the place you are interested.

But none of the faithfull followers, or their masters seem to care about this! So in December when the sunrise is almost at 7.00 at Bangalore (or even later in Delhi), the Rahu Kala must be shifted by 1 hour or more accordingly. Since this is never done, the faithfull followers are blatantly violating the 'auspicious time rules' which they themselves have stipulated!

How to Calculate Rahu Kala

Find the length of the day. Divide the length of the Day (Or Night - according to the time of your interest) to 8 equal portions.

Sundays - 8th portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Mondays - 2nd portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Tuesdays - 7th portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Wednesday - 5th portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Thursday - 6 th portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Friday - 4 th portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Saturday -3 rd portion from the sun rise (set) is Rahu Kala

Taking Monday as an example, this means that Rahu Kala will be as follows for the following cities in December 2001. All figures approximate (the idea is to show the departure from the static value everyone is following!)

City	Sun rise	Sun set	Rahu Kala for Monday
Colombo	6.00	18.00	7.30 -9.00
Bangalore	6.25	17.51	7.51 - 9.17
Delhi	6.56	17.24	8.14 - 9.32
Sri Nagar			8.29 - 9.41 (approx)

But in Bangalore and Delhi no one follows the above timings for Rahukala. In fact, the whole India faithfully follow the same timings as Colombo! Even if there is any meaning in the Rahukala, this makes the custom absolutely ridiculous!!

Malayala Manoram Jyothisham Page

The following is from the website of Malayala Manorma:

How to remeber Rahu Kala:

''  K K
dLIK J ...""

K  ‰V.
‚   BK K 4.30.
C{  7.30.
Œ ‚E 3.00.
 ‚A 12.00.
c ‚E 1.30.
U  10.30.
  9.00.

W   EAK J BK  K A  A.
c   K c 6.00 A AK B{AU  A.  B{W x K‚  BK x .

But no one applies the sun-rise correction! Not even Manorama! The following snap-shot explains the absurdity!

How Dev Gowda exploited this discrepancy in fooling the crowd!

At least one politician has been very clever in exploiting this time issue to boast himself as an 'unorthodox' person! Dev Gowda of Karnataka, claimed that he is filing nomination at Rahu Kala, whereas with the sun rise correction, he was indeed not! Read the news as reported by Times of India:

Gowda plays to the astrologers' tune [The Times of India News Service - Election 1998]
The former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda a firm believer in astrology surprised everybody present at the deputy commissioner's office when he filed his nomination papers for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat during the "rahu kaala" --an inauspicious time for the people who follow Hindu calendar of events.

Mr Gowda also claimed that he has selected the rahu kala time for filing his nomination papers to show his rational friends, especially the presspersons that "he is not an orthodox". But in reality, the rahu kala on that day began at 11.30 a.m. -- an hour behind that predicted in the Hindu calendars, an astrologer who accompanied Deve Gowda to the deputy commissioner's office.

When people in the hall expressed their surprise over Mr Gowda's move to file the nominations papers during rahu kala, Mr Gowda was overheard saying to his one of the proposers Muni Venkategowda that the rahu kaala keeps on changing during the "dakshinayana parvakala" according to the sunrise.

"So today the rahu kaala actually begins at 11.30 and not as mentioned in the Hindu calendars" he reportedly told his friend. Mr Gowda who arrived at the deputy commissioners office at sharp 10.45 a.m. waited for the 25 minutes before filing his papers so that the time was 11.10 a.m. as suggested by his astrologers. [According to the static timings, Rahu Kala was supposed to start at 10.30 and end at 12.00 on that day!]

Besides the members of assembly from Hassan, his wife Channamma and his minister son H.D. Revanna accompanied Mr Gowda to the deputy commissioner's office when the latter came to file the nomination papers.

Totally Meaningless Today!

A supersition is a superstition no matter how you explain it or its origin. The origian may be justified, even the practice in the olden days may be justified. The big question is: Is it relevant today?

Some people try to give a scientific halo around Rahu and Kethu especially in connection with the eclipses. The argument goes like this : .Parashara mentions that rahu and ketu are nodes, shadowy planets (this distinction that he made from other planets is remarkable since the lunar nodes are really two mathematical points created by the nodes of intersection of the path of the earth around the sun {apparent path of sun around the earth!} and the path of the moon around the earth)

So what? We have today perfectly verifiable explanation for both Lunar and Solar Eclipses. What people believed before or what way people attempted to explain it before is irrelevant on the basis of the available truth of today. The superstitions people do not conisder Rahu and Kethu as nodes, but they really believe in the 'evil' planets! Also the observance of Rahukala has nothing to do with the Eclipses in practice.

Pseudo-Scientific Explanations

There are thousands of astrologers, charlatans, miraclemen and godmen who are living on people's ignorance by extracting money from the gullibles. Several of these have offices abroad, making them part of an international mafia fooling people.

These people justify these superstitions, because it suits their purpose - to make money! They write books giving 'scientific explanations' to these pheneomena - again the books are sold like hot cakes resulting in more money.

These guys are extremely clever. They quote (rather misquote) our old scriptures and some scientific articles. Very often the quotes are misplaced. AS they say "Even the devil can quote the Bible!" No one is stopping you!

Enormous time is wasted by our educated people in observing this nonsense - not only for functions like marriage, but even for starting journeys, for taking bus and train, for submitting PhD theses and so on!

Glossary of Terms (Courtsey of rediff.com)

Here is a glossary of terms followed by Indian Panchanga. [Our comments: Some of these are astronomical dependent and scientifically correct. But some are purely based on old beliefs which have changed over the centuries and are utterly meaningless today.]

Panchang	Hindu Panchang consists of five elements - Vara (Day), Tithi (Lunar Day), Nakshatra (Star), Yogam (Luni Solar Day) and Karana (Semi Lunar Day).
Place	The Panchang is for UJJAIN - the designated central station of India. Longitude 82.50 E, Latitude 23 11' N Time: 5h.30m IST
Applicability	Tithi, Star, Yogam and Karana are geo-centric phenomena and the timings given in IST, can be adjusted to any place on earth by noting the time difference between IST and the local mean time of the place.
Panchang Type	Drigh-ganith. There may be differences with Panchangs prepared on the basis of Surya-Siddhanth, Arya Siddhanth, Vakya or other ancient Hindu astronomical methods.
Drigh-ganith	Panchang is computed using modern astronomical constants and Ephemeris. Ayanamsa is deducted to arrive at longitudes of planets and for determining Star positions, Yogams and Karanas.
Indian Day	The day begins at sunrise according to Indian customs. The ending moment of Tithis, Stars, Yogam, Karana and Yogas given in IST go beyond 24 hours as per practice adopted in Rashtriya Panchangs. If an event is shown as ending at 29hrs, it means that it is before Sun rise next day at 5 am.
Vara	Week day
Tithi	The moment of new moon, or that point of time when the longitudes of the Sun and Moon are equal, is called Amavasya (dwelling together of the sun and moon). A Tithi is the time occupied by the moon in increasing her distance from the sun by 12. The first Tithi is called Prathami or Pratipad. At Poornima, the moon and sun are opposite each other, the moon reflecting the sun in full. 30 Tithis constitute a Lunar Month and Amavasya repeats.
Tithis	Prathami (or Pratipad), Dwithiai, Trithiai, Chathurthi, Panchami, Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dasami, Ekadasi, Dwadasi, Triodasi, Chaturdasi, Poornami or Ammavasai.
Lunar months/names	A lunar month begins the next day after Amavasya. There are 30 days in a lunar month. In this Panchang, the lunar month takes the name of the next solar month. In Bengal, the lunar month takes the name of the solar month in which it occurs. Lunar months in Bengal will, therefore, be the one previous. Names of lunar months in order are as follows: Chaitra, Vaisakha, Jyeshta, Ashadha, Sravana, Bhadrapada, Asvina, Karttika, Margasira, Pausha, Magha, Phalguna.
Purnimanta/ Amanta systems	Since Amavasya or Poornima may be taken as the natural end of a lunar month, two schemes exist for such beginning and ending. The Amanta system is based on the month ending with Amavasya. The Purnimanta system chooses Poornima as the end of a month. This Panchang uses the Amanta system which is more widely used in India.
Paksham/Shukla Paksh/Krihna Paksh	The bright half of a lunar month - that is, from Prathami to Poornima is termed Shukla Paksh - the Moon waxing period; the next half of the lunar month from Poornima to Amavasai constitutes Krishna Paksh - Moon waning period.
Adhika/ Nija Masas	Normally we have 12 lunar months in a year, which contains roughly 355 days (29.53*12). This falls short of the solar year by 10 days, which will need a correction approximately every 3 years. This correction is not done by arbitrary rules but by the natural motion of Sun and the Moon. The occurrence of Amavasyas solves this deficiency in the number of days. Usually there is only one Amavasya between Sankrantis. But sometimes, two Amavasyas occur between successive Sankrantis, one at the very beginning and the other near the end; the lunar month first occurring is termed Adhika and the next one Nija. Both the months carry the same name with the prefix Adhika and Nija. There are rare cases when then there is no Amavasya between two Sankrantis. Then a Lunar Month is suppressed - Kshaya. Such an event occurred in 1963 and again in 1982 and may occur in the future as well. In Adhika Masa, no festivals are celebrated.
Malai and Visha Masas	A month without a Full Moon is known as a Visha Masa; one with two full Moons is called a Malai Masa. Nothing of importance should be done in those months.
Solar Months - Sankrantis	When Sun enters Aries (Mesha) a new Indian solar year begins - Mesha Sankranti. A solar month is completed when the Sun moves 30 in orbit. The Sun enters each of the next 12 signs thereafter and Sun's entry in each sign is a Sankranti. Names of solar months follow the signs - Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karkata, Simha, Kanya, Tula Vrischika, Dhanus, Makara, Kumbha, Mina. Sankranti takes place at an instant of time that may be during the day or night. The rules for beginning of a new month (day) are varied in different parts of India. This Panchang follows the so-called sunset Rule - that is if the Sankranti occurs before sunset, the next month starts the same day. If it occurs after sunset, the new month starts the next day. The number of days in a solar month depends on when the next Sankranti takes place. The number of days vary - 29, 30, 31, or 32 depending on the moment of the next Sankranti.
Stars - Nakshatras	The Zodiac is marked by 27 spaces of 13 20' - Nakshatras (Stars). The position of the Moon at a time determines the Star. The ending moment is determined when the Moon enters the next star space. List of Stars: Aswini, Bharani, Krithika, Rohini, Mrigasira, Aridra, Punarvasu, Pushyami, Aslesha, Makha, Pubba, Uttara, Hasta, Chitta, Swati, Visakha, Anuradha, Jyeshta, Moola, Purvashada, Uttarashada ,Sravana, Dhanishta, Satabhisha, Purvabhadra, Uttarabhadra, Revathi
Yogam	This is the period during which the joint motion of the sun and the moon totals to 1320'. There are 27 Yogams. Each Yogam has a characteristic associated with it. List of Yogams: Vishkambha, Prithi, Ayushman,Saubhagya, Sobhana, Atiganda, Sukarman, Dhrithi, Soola, Ganda, Vridhi, Dhruva, Vyaghata, Harshana, Vajra, Siddhi, Vyatipata, Variyan Parigha, Siva, Siddha., Sadhya, Subha, Sukla, Bramha, Indra, Vaidhruthi. Of these, Atiganda, Soola, Ganda, Vyghata and Vaidhruthi Yogams are inauspicious.
Karanas	Half a lunar day constitutes a Karana. This is the time taken for the sun and moon to travel 6. There are 11 Karanas - Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitula, Garija, Vanija, Visti, Sakuna, Chatuspada, Naga, Kimstughna. The first 7 come by rotation 8 times in a lunar month, commencing with the second half of the first lunar day. The last four are permanent Karanas and occur in order with the seccond half of the 29th lunar day. These last 4 Karanas are inauspicious.
Amrutahti Yogas	The combination of a certain Star, a certain Tithi, and a certain week day constitutes a special Yoga. These are termed Amrutha, Siddha and Shubha. The special Yogas are said to remove defects of a day and make it generally Shubha.
Ecliptic	The celestial Equator can be imagined as an indefinite extension of plane of the terrestrial equator of the earth. The Ecliptic is a band in the sky in which the Sun, Moon, planets appear to move amidst the stars. The earth spins counter-clockwise about its axis completing one revolution in one siderial day. The earth also revolves around the sun, counter-clockwise. We see the apparent motion of the sun, which appears, in the course of a year, to make one revolution about the earth. This apparent orbit of the sun is called the Ecliptic; a belt 8 wide on each side of the Ecliptic is called the Zodiac. There are 12 prominent constellations (star groups signs) within the belt through which the sun in its apparent motion, passes once every year. These are: Aries (Mesha), Taurus (Vrishabha), Gemini (Mithuna), Cancer (Karkata), Leo (Simha), Virgo (Kanya), Libra (Tula), Scorpio (Vrischika), Sagittarius (Dhanus), Capricorn (Makara), Aquarius (Kumbha), Pisces (Mina).
Zodiac	A belt 8 wide on each side of the Ecliptic is called the Zodiac. There are 12 prominent constellations (star groups signs) within the belt through which the Sun in its apparent motion, passes once every year.
Lagnas/ Ascendants	The Earth rotates on its axis from West to the East in about 24 hours and due to its rotatory motion, the whole sky appears to come up from below the horizon - Sun, Moon, Stars and all heavenly bodies. We may also think of each point attached to the sky on the Eastern horizon to come up as the time goes by. The point rising at a particular instant on the Eastern horizon is the Ascendant or Lagna. There are 12 Lagna periods (same names as given above) in a day and the period of each Lagna varies and the timings also vary from place to place. The Panchang gives the starting time of each Lagna during the day. If a person is born at a particular time, you can find the Lagna by referring to the Table. You can choose a Lagna for an event as well. A correction table for various places can be seen below. You can also refer to the Rashtriya Panchang published by the Indian Meteorological Department for correction in respect of other places in India.
Shubh Muhurthas	There are 15 Muhurthas during the day and 15 during the night. Each Muhurtha has a duration of about 48 minutes. The time difference between sunrise and sunset is termed Ahas. This divided by 15 gives the duration of a Muhurtha. Similarly, night Muhurthas can be found taking the balance time (24 - Ahas) and dividing by 15. Some Muhurthas are auspicious and some are not. The names of Muhurthas, their Lords as defined by Stars, and whether they are auspicious or not is given below. Shubh Lagnas are found and Shubh Muhurthas are placed in Shubh Lagnas, avoiding Rahu and Yamaganda Kalas.
Equinoxes	The path that the Sun follows in its apparent motion on the celestial sphere is inclined to the celestial equator, the angle between the 2 circles being 23 27'. One of the points at which the circles intersect is known as the First of Aries; here the sun crosses the celestial equator on its way from the southern to the northern portion of the Ecliptic. The other point is known as the First of Libra. When the sun is at either point, day is equal in length to night, everywhere on earth. The sun is at the First point of Aries on March 21st; this point is also known as the Vernal Equinox. The sun is at First of Libra (known as Autumnal Equinox) on September 23rd.
Precession of Equinoxes	The equinoxes are not permanent. Each point moves very slowly along the equator, completing one round in 25,800 years. The movement of the points is known as the Precession of the Equinoxes.
Ayanamsa	The Zodiac which reckons the first degree of Aries from the Equinoctial point that moves because of precession is the moveable Zodiac. All Western Almanacs refer to the longitude of planets from this moveable point. Vedic (Hindu) astronomy fixes the First point of Aries to a particular star and calculates the longitudes of planets from this fixed point. The moveable Zodiac is also termed the Zodiac of Signs while the fixed zodiac is known as the Zodiac of Constellations, as its signs are almost identical with the constellations bearing the same name. The distance between the Hindu First point related to a star and the Vernal Equinox based on moving equinoxes is known as Ayanamsa. The exact date when both the Zodiacs coincided is not definitely known. There are different values based on different dates adopted by different Hindu astronomers. The Calendar Reforms Committee set up by the Govt. of India in 1955 settled issue by fixing the date/ Star. The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris published by the Indian Meteorological Department also provides the formula to be used for determining Ayanamsa. This Panchang uses this formula.
Nirayana Ephemeris	Ephemeris based on the Fixed Zodiac is termed Nirayana - as Ayanamsa is deducted.
Local Mean Time	The Indian Standard Time is for the Longitude 8230'. As the longitude of places are different, the Local Meant Time refers to the actual time at the place based on the longitude of the place. The table below provides time differences for various places from the Indian Standard Time. You can also calculate the LMT by simply dividing the difference in longitude of the place and 82 30' by 15 and adding it or subtracting it from the IST depending on whether the longitude of the place is greater or less than 82 30'.
Retrograde/ Direct motion of planets	Although planets always move in the same direction round the Sun, the apparent motion as seen from the Earth is not always forward; they sometimes appear to move backwards. The apparent backward motion is referred to as Retrograde.
National Calendar of India	The Calendar was introduced by the Govt. of India with effect from 22nd March 1957. The year of the National Calendar begins from March 22 in a ordinary year and on March 21 in a leap year. First month of the Calendar is Chaitra (solar month). The Indian Positional Astronomy Centre, Calcutta under the Met Dept. publishes Rashtriya Panchangs in many languages every year - a good reference.
Indian Date/Rashtriya Panchang Date	This Panchang follows the rules of the National Calendar and has also used the same principle for dates prior to 1957 as well.
Festivals	Abbreviations: Su - Shukla Paksha; Kr - Krishna Paksha The number following the abbreviation is for the Tithi. Example: Su 5 = Panchami Shukla Paksham; Kr 1 = Prathami Krishna Paksham The day and the period of the day when a festival is to be celebrated has to be decided with reference to Tithi and the time prescribed for observance of the festival. When a Tithi is appointed for celebration of a feast or fast during a particular period of the Tithi, it is obvious that the feast or fast must be observed when the Tithi covers the prescribed part of the day. This Panchang gives the ending moment of Tithis so that a person could choose the right time for performance of the feast or fast. It is best to check the Panchang for 2 consecutive days and decide. Usually no festivals or Vratas are observed in Adhika Masas. However, the lunar new year, if it occurs in a Adhika Masa, is observed.
Umbra/Penumbra	The shadow cast by the earth has 3 parts. There is a dense central part where the shadow cone converges. This part is called the umbra. There is a diverging cone surrounding the dense converging central part. This cone is called the penumbra. The penumbra arise because of tangential rays from the sun going past the earth all round.
Lunar eclipse phases	A lunar eclipse will have a penumbral phase when the moon enters the penumbra, a total phase when it is in the umbra and a penumbral exit phase when it again enters the penumbra and exits. Sometimes, there may not be a total phase depending on the inclination of the moon to the earth's orbit. When the moon enters the penumbra it's brightness gradually decreases until it is completely obscured when the whole moon has entered the umbra. Eclipses when there is no total phase are referred to as `penumbral' or partial.
Visibility of lunar eclipses	All lunar eclipses, both total and partial can be simultaneously observed from every point on the terrestrial hemisphere that is turned towards the moon. Moonrise and moonset timings will decide whether one can see a lunar eclipse - penumbral, or total.
Duration of a Lunar eclipse	A lunar eclipse is of relatively long duration, as the thickness of the shadow-cone it encounters is about 5700 miles. If it passes centrally, it would be eclipsed for over 2 hours. In partial eclipses, only part of the moon passes through the shadow-cone, the normally full moon appearing with a slice cut off. Partial eclipses precede as well as follow every lunar eclipse.
Series of Lunar eclipses	Eclipses come in series, a complete series consisting of 48 or 49 eclipses. Many series of eclipses are going on simultaneously. At present, may be 28 series may be going on. Each series is related by certain circumstances of the eclipse. See Soros cycles.
Magnitude of a Lunar eclipse.	Eclipse magnitude is the fraction of the Moon's diameter obscured by the Earth. For total eclipses, the value listed is actually the ratio of diameters between the Moon and the Earth.
Total solar eclipse	A total solar eclipse is when the Sun is completely covered by the Moon. The umbral part of the shadow (the umbra) is the area where the Sun is totally obscured by the Moon. The total eclipse can be seen only at locations where the umbral shadow is cast.
Annular solar eclipse	An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon covers the centre of the Sun, but not its edges, leaving a ring (or annulus) of the Sun visible around its edges.
Partial solar eclipse	A partial solar eclipse is when the Moon covers only part of the Sun. There is an area outside the umbra, where the Sun is only partly covered by the Moon; this is known as the penumbra, and it covers a much larger area of the Earth than the umbra. The area of the Earth, which falls within the penumbra, sees a partial eclipse of the Sun. Within the penumbra, the Sun is partly covered, and its light dimmed, to varying degrees; people within the penumbra and close to the umbra would see the Sun almost (but not quite) covered, whereas people on the edge of the penumbra would see the Moon cover the Sun partially.
Hybrid solar eclipse	A hybrid, or annular/total, eclipse is an eclipse, which is seen as annular by some parts of the Earth, and total by others (and also as a partial eclipse over a much larger area).
Magnitude of a solar eclipse	Eclipse magnitude is the fraction of th e Sun's diameter obscured by the Moon. For annular eclipses, the eclipse magnitude is always less than 1. For total eclipses, the eclipse magnitude is always greater than or equal to 1. For both annular and total eclipses, the value listed is actually the ratio of diameters between the Moon and the Sun.
Central duration and Greatest Eclipse	Central Duration is the duration of a total or annular eclipse at Greatest Eclipse. Greatest Eclipse is the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center.
Saros cycle	The periodicity and recurrence of eclipses is governed by the `Saros cycle' - a period of approximately 6583.3 days. Any two eclipses separated by one Saros cycle share similar geometries.