So the July 2009 eclipse has been a pretty big deal to me for a realllllllly long time, and I am not in the Hanzou province in China to experience it. I had to cancel my trip. As fate dictates, there was an inevitable course of events that led me away from my ability to photograph this once in a lifetime event. As it turns out, it is raining in Shanghai and most of eastern China, so I wouldn't have been able to see anything, anyway. But...still, I digress.
"Of all the dramatic displays that nature treats us to, a total eclipse of the sun is the most awe-inspiring. It begins with a gradual darkening of the sky that progresses to an eerie gray. It’s strangely quiet, prompting people to speak just above a whisper as they watch a flat, black disk slide slowly across the sun. The moment when the last crescent of sunlight vanishes is unnerving, recalling ancient fears that an eclipse was signaling the end of the world. Then suddenly the sun’s corona bursts forth—a shimmering halo of light that seems to surround a black hole in the sky. This is the magic moment; this is why eclipse chasers are willing to travel to the ends of the earth. Then the moon moves on, uncovering a sliver of sunlight, and everyone cheers the sun’s return." - Exploratorium
The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 will be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting at most 6 minutes, 39 seconds. It has caused tourist interest in eastern China, Nepal and India. As a matter of fact, the Marshall Islands was booked out nearly a six years ago for this event. The eclipse is part of saros series 136, like the record-setting solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027. The exceptional duration is a result of the moon being near perigee, with the apparent diameter of the moon 8% larger than the sun (magnitude 1.080). This will be the second in the series of three eclipses in a month, with the lunar eclipse on July 7 and the lunar eclipse on August 6.
I will be viewing it online, although it won't quite being the same. I was looking at pictures of folks in Japan in their tents and others in India with their telescopes - pangs of jelousy in my veins. It simply wasn't meant to be. For whatever reason. So I am here, I suppose the shorter eclipse in 2010, from South America will have to suffice :)
View the eclipse LIVE by clicking here - suggest tuning in around 10:30PM EDT, live streaming should begin around 10:35PM.
The path of totality:
At sunrise on July 22, 2009, (the evening of July 21 PDT), the moon’s umbra—the cone-shaped part of the moon’s shadow—will fall on India’s Gulf of Khambhat. The shadow will sweep across Asia and the South Pacific before leaving the earth near the Marshall Islands about 3½ hours later. The path of totality will cover a distance of approximately 9,500 miles (15,200 km). The maximum duration of totality is an exceptionally long 6 minutes and 39 seconds, which will come while the shadow is over the Pacific.
