Millions of people in India, China, and other parts of Asia will witness a total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009. Cities such as Surat, in India, as well as Chengdu, Shanghai, and Wuhan, in China, will experience the eclipse’s totality. Visitors at the Taj Mahal, which is listed as one of the modern world’s seven wonders, will witness this eclipse. This eclipse will also occur in places such as Japan, where Tokyo’s residents will witness a partial eclipse.Many claim that this solar eclipse will be the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. The umbra* travels along a track that is about 15,150km (about 9414 miles) long and covers 0.71 percent of the earth’s surface area over a course of three hours and 25 minutes. The eclipse’s maximum duration of totality will be six minutes and 39 seconds. Timeanddate.com created an animation of the solar eclipse’s path.
Where will the Eclipse be Visible?
According to NASA, The path of the moon's umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China before curving south across the Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the moon's penumbral (partially shaded outer region) shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean.
The Eclipse’s Path
The central line of the moon’s shadow begins in India’s Gulf of Khambhat (Bay of Cambay) at 00:53 Universal Time (UT), according to sources such as NASA. The eclipse track is 205km wide at its start as the umbra quickly travels east-northeast. People in the city of Surat, India, will experience a total eclipse for three minutes and 14 seconds.
The shadow then moves on to the city of Indore where totality occurs for three minutes and five seconds. By 00:55 UT, the umbra is in central India where it stretches diagonally across two-thirds of the country. The Taj Mahal in Agra experiences a deep partial eclipse of magnitude 0.906 at 00:56 UT. Kolkata (Calcutta) can view a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.911. The shadow reaches the region between Nepal and Bangladesh at 00:58 UT. Outside the path, Kathmandu experiences a partial eclipse.
The eclipse’s central line then reaches Bhutan at 00:59 UT. After leaving Bhutan, the track continues to the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The umbra’s center reaches the India-China border at 01:05 UT, where the totality duration is four minutes and 26 seconds. The southern half of the umbra sweeps across northern Burma (the Union of Myanmar) before the entire shadow enters China’s Yunnan province and the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The city of Chengdu, in China, is totally eclipsed for three minutes and 16 seconds at 01:13 UT. The Chongqing municipality’s urban center experiences a totality lasting four minutes and six seconds at 01:15 UT. Wuhan, which is the fourth largest city in China, will experience a totality lasting for five minutes and 25 seconds at 01:27 UT. Hangzhou will see a total eclipse of five minutes and 19 seconds at 01:37 UT. Shanghai will experience five minutes of totality at 01:39 UT.
After crossing the East China Sea, the umbra encounters Japan’s Ryukyu Islands (Nansei Islands) at 01:57 UT. The island of Yakushima experiences three minutes and 57 seconds of totality. Akuseki-shima experiences six minutes and 20 seconds of the total eclipse. Tokyo will witness a partial eclipse at 02:13 UT.
The shadow encounters the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Kitaio Jima at around 02:27 UT. These islands experience five minutes and 13 seconds and six minutes and 34 seconds of totality, respectively.
ref:timeanddate.com
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