This morning, people in India and other parts of Asia have been experiencing the longest solar eclipse of the century.

For some though, this is not the celestial spectacular that you might think it is, but instead is an omen of doom.

In an age where most people have gone beyond superstitions about natural events, in Nepal, the authorities closed all schools for the day to avoid exposing the students to any ill-effects.

On the other extreme, in India and Nepal, many people gathered to immerse themselves in holy water to watch the eclipse because this is considered auspicious!

For more details, see the BBC article.

For the people concerned about the ill-effects of solar eclipses, fear no longer. The moon is moving away from the earth at the speed of 4cm/year, which means that it will soon be too small to completely block out the sun and cause an eclipse. I say soon, but I’m pretty sure that I, my children, my grandchildren, and several more generations will be well dead and buried before we stop seeing solar eclipses.

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