KATHMANDU, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- A partial solar eclipse will occur in Nepal on Friday afternoon, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported on Friday.

    The eclipse will start at 4:22 p.m. local time (1037 GMT), reach median at 5:24 p.m. (1139 GMT) and terminate at 6:13 p.m. (1228 GMT). Nepali scientists have warned not to look at the eclipse with naked eyes as ultraviolet rays emanate during the eclipse.

    There is a religious tradition of not taking any food during and taking bath in the nearby ponds, spouts, rivers and river confluences at the beginning and after the eclipse. It is believed that this is done to protect oneself from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays during the eclipse.

    According to astrologers, the eclipse will not have any harmful effects to people having the zodiac signs of Taurus, Virgo, Libra and Aquarius; but it would be better for the people with the rest of the zodiac signs not to watch the celestial phenomenon.

    It is stated in the calendar that a lunar eclipse will occur on Aug. 7.

    Member secretary of Nepal Calendar Determination Committee, Surya Prasad Dhungel said it is ominous from the religious point of view when two eclipses occur in the same month.

    A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon, in course of its revolution around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, comes in between the sun and the Earth in a straight alignment and blocks a portion of the sun.