Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) Unable to buy a solar goggle but keen on watching the century’s longest solar eclipse, 25-year-old Anurag Gupta caught hold of an old x-ray scan of his chest and went to the Nehru Planetarium to have a glimpse of the celestial spectacle.
Gupta was not the only one armed with an x-ray. Many others people were seen looking at the sun through scans of their legs, head, hands and other body parts.

“I was not able to buy solar goggles so I carried the x-ray film to watch the eclipse. I did not want to miss the event just because I didn’t have the glasses. You can see a very clear image of the sun through this sheet,” Gupta said proudly.

Seeing Gupta watching the eclipse, many people got thrilled and requested him to lend them the x-ray.

“There are very long queues in front of telescopes, solar image projectors and filter films placed at the planetarium. They said all the solar goggles were sold. I thought that it is better to watch the eclipse through an x-ray sheet than missing it,” said Sheetal Goswami, a housewife.

However, volunteers from the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), a Delhi-based organisation working to make science and astronomy popular, warned people that it is not safe to watch the eclipse through x-ray sheets.

“Please don’t watch the eclipse through the X-ray sheet for it can damage the retina of your eyes,” said Kanika, a SPACE volunteer, handing out a few solar goggles.