As the final solar eclipse of this year began on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to share that he could not "see the Sun due to cloud cover" in New Delhi. The Prime Minister added he caught glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode on live stream, and "enriched my knowledge on the subject by interacting with experts". However, it was what happened around an hour later that almost "eclipsed" the PM's original tweet. "Like many Indians, I was enthusiastic about #solareclipse2019. Unfortunately, I could not see the Sun due to cloud cover but I did catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts on live stream. Also enriched my knowledge on the subject by interacting with experts," Modi tweeted, along with his pictures. Like many Indians, I was enthusiastic about #solareclipse2019. Unfortunately, I could not see the Sun due to cloud cover but I did catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts on live stream. Also enriched my knowledge on the subject by interacting with experts. pic.twitter.com/EI1dcIWRIz — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2019 A Twitter user, who goes by the name of Gappistan Radio, later posted one of the pictures without tagging the Prime Minister, saying: "This is becoming a meme." Surprisingly, PM Modi retweeted the post, adding: "Most welcome..enjoy :)". Most welcome..enjoy :) — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2019 The PM's move seems to have won some hearts on Twitter. Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri was among the first to respond to his tweet, saying: "Wow. Cool". The picture has also led to a flood of memes on Twitter. Tenu kala chashma jachda ae, jachda ae gore mukhde te. — 🥀💀 (@coldkoffy) December 26, 2019 *Me trying 99rs Sunglasses on roadside* Coolest PM pic.twitter.com/KBnqnKbLVE — Shana Launda (@shanalaunda) December 26, 2019 When your friend clicks a candid photo of yours and you give side profile to show your jaw line#solareclipse2019 #Modiji — Amaavas (@seedha_boy) December 26, 2019 Astrologer: next year would be your golden year Me: — Citizen (@AtthipattiAjith) December 26, 2019 Aaj kuch special haii kya ? 😂😂😂😂😂 — Aakansha Rao (@AakanshaRao_1) December 26, 2019 This is me talking to my tall friends. — Beenish Zafar (@beenishzafar96) December 26, 2019 The annular eclipse, like today's, takes place when the moon is farthest from the Earth and only partially covers the sun. The eclipse could be seen in Saudi Arabia, India, Sumatra, Borneo Asia. In India, it started roughly around 8:00 am with a partial eclipse. The maximum eclipse started at 10:47 am when the Moon was closest to the centre of the Sun. It ended by 12:30 pm, after which the moon is to leave the edges of the Sun, ending the partial eclipse by 1:35 pm. In this type of an eclipse, the moon does not block the sun completely, but looks like a “dark disk on top of a larger sun-colored disk” forming a “ring of fire”.
