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The Hindu

Longest solar eclipse in China since 1814
By Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu, July 22, 2009


- Photos: Solar eclipse


Beijing: It was supposed to be the day the giant Kua Fu chased the Sun across the sky, determined to capture the fiery orange ball to end a long drought that had plagued the country.

But on Wednesday morning, the mythic giant beloved by Chinese folklore was nowhere to be found. Instead, thousands of Beijing residents who rose early to catch a glimpse of the longest solar eclipse of this century disappointingly woke to a familiar sight: a dull, smog-filled sky stretching over one of China’s most polluted cities. But millions of others across China were far luckier.

From Chengdu in the heart of the country’s Sichuan province to Shanghai on the eastern coast, much of China was thrown into darkness on Wednesday morning. Thousands of eclipse-watchers from all over the world gathered at some of China’s most well-known sites to watch the longest solar eclipse to be seen in China since 1814. In Sichuan province, a local airline even chartered flights for passengers to follow the sun. In Zhejiang in China’s east, regarded by Chinese astronomers as the best spot in the country to watch the event, thousands gathered and burst crackers.

In China, solar eclipses are regarded as a sign of impending catastrophe. For Beijing’s residents, the only catastrophe was the smog-filled morning sky the city woke up to. Several hundred people gathered at the city’s planetarium to watch the eclipse, but all they saw was a sight this city’s residents are by now well used to: a dull grey sky that menacingly stretched across the city. Unfortunately for the s residents, Wednesday turned out to be one of the most polluted days of the year so far.

According to Beijing Air, a monitoring service run by the U.S. embassy, the Air Quality Index(AQI) on Wednesday morning was as high as 469 according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s scale, 500 is the worst possible reading on the AQI scale. Beijing Air described Wednesday morning’s air conditions as “hazardous.” Shanghais residents were luckier. Thousands gathered at Yangshan Island off Shanghai’s coast, at the site of one of thelargest deep-sea ports, for one of the best views of the eclipse on the mainland.

“There was a drizzle in the morning so we were concerned, but by 9 a.m. the view was spectacular, possibly the best in China,” Ja Mingjie, 23, who watched the eclipse at Yangshan among thousands of foreign tourists, said. But behind the noxious smog-filled clouds that hovered over Beijing on Wednesday was a silver lining. After all, behind the blue skies the city has become used to in recent months after the Olympic Games was a sobering cause, the shutting down of more than 1,00,000 factories after the financial crisis hit China. The return of the much-hated smog to Beijing, analysts say, is a sign that many of the factories around Beijing have left the recession far behind and are now back up and running, bellowing out as much smoke and ash into the city’s skies as they were before the recession briefly disrupted Chinas good times.

Related articles:
N.Y. Daily: Longest solar eclipse of the century shrouds Asia in daytime darkness (more)

Timesnow.tv

You won't see this for the next 123 years
By Timesnow.tv, 22 Jul 2009


- China Daily: Indians enthralled by solar eclipse


For 6 minutes and 39 seconds, Asia held its breath as the sun and moon enthralled the world in a spectacular celestial dance. TIMES NOW got you the view from the earth and from the sky. Hopefully you were an early bird and caught the solar treat. If you didn't – it is unlikely you will see it again. The next eclipse of a similar duration will now happen only after 123 years.

The best pictures came from China and India, which were extremely lucky to see the sun's diamond ring. At 5.40 am Daqing, a small province in China was the first to be blessed with a total solar eclipse. The first diamond ring was spotted and then the sky plunged into complete darkness.

At 6: 25 A.M back home on the banks of Varanasi, hordes of devotees who had gathered for a holy dip in the Ganges broke into chants. Varanasi was to become the luckiest city in the country to have the best view witnessing the diamond formation. Back in China at 6:39 in the morning - the most spectacular visuals beamed out of Chongqing - a ‘full moon’ slowly slipped into a crescent and broke into a diamond ring. Crowds cheered over the total solar eclipse.

Mumbai, Agra, Gaya and Kuruskehtra may have witnessed only a partial eclipse. But that in itself was a sight to behold. In Agra, the sun slowly reduced to a crescent, the light faded as the sun appeared to be swallowed up by the moon. In Delhi the forecast was not good. But, while the rain gods played spoilsport in other cities they smiled on the capital. Delhiites were delighted to see an 85% partial eclipse.

In Gaya, it seemed like everyone had come out to witness the celestial spectacle of the century as the partial eclipse began at 5.29 and ended at 7.29AM. And the Indian Air Force perhaps got best view of the eclipse, as its aircraft cruised at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The Indian air force flight - Russian AN32 transporter - filled with scientists filmed the eclipse - monitoring it as raced across the country. The scientists took off from the Taj Mahal town of Agra and followed the shadow of the eclipse northwest till the central town of Khajuraho.

Related articles:

- Video: Solar eclipse (22.07) - Photos

Global Media Coverage: Total solar eclipse over Asia - www.astronomy-blog.com - http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com

Spaceweather.com



- Solar eclipse photo by Iakovos Marios Strikis, Westlake - Hangzhou - China, Jul. 22, 2009

Photo by Wojciech Burzynski, looking out the window of an express train between chinese cities Hangzhou and Zhuji. (more)

Photo of the total solar eclipse made by Dennis Mammana at the pagoda in Yichang, China, Jul. 22, 2009 (more)

Photo by MTSAT, a Japanese satellite in geostationary orbit. July 22, 2009. (more) - SSEC Geostationary Satellite browser: http://www.ssec.wisc.edu


Space.com: Eclipse's Shadow Seen from Space

When a moon shadow crossed Earth Wednesday, millions of people in India and China looked up. At the same time, a Japanese satellite looked down. The new image, released by NASA's Earth Observatory in cooperation with Japanese researchers, reveals a dark spot on our planet, covering Taiwan and surrounding areas, as the moon got directly between the sun and Earth.

The total solar eclipse was the longest one that will occur this century, lasting for up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds. It awed locals and many globetrotting skywatchers who trekked to see it. "Eclipse in Yichang exceeded expectations," wrote SETI astronomer Seth Shostak on Twitter. "Locals agog, as was I" (more)

• Photos: Total solar eclipse in Asia (22.07.2009)


• AP: Longest solar eclipse of the century shrouds Asia in daytime darkness


• Global Media Coverage: Total Solar eclipse seen in Asia


• Times Online: Taregna in India attracts thousands for the best solar eclipse this century
- A dusty village in north India will be swamped by “eclipsomaniacs” today when amateur astronomers brave the threat of armed Maoist rebels to make it one of the finest places to view the best solar eclipse of the 21st century. Eclipses have historically been regarded across Asia as portents of ill fortune. For the residents of Taregna, in the poor state of Bihar, however, the phenomenon has heralded the arrival of undreamt-of wonders including public lavatories that work, repaired roads and uninterrupted electricity supplies. “We’ve never experienced anything quite like it,” Sameer Anand, a local astronomer, said. “There must be some important people coming.” (more)

Reuters

Asia darkens under longest solar eclipse of century
By Sunil Kataria and Lucy Hornby, Jul 22, 2009


High res. - Video: Solar eclipse wows Asia


Varanasi, India/ Wuhan, China (Reuters) - A total solar eclipse on Wednesday swept across a narrow swathe of Asia, where hundreds of millions of people watched the skies darken, though in some places thick summer clouds blocked the sun.

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century cut through the world's most populous nations, India and China, as it travelled half the globe. It was visible along a roughly 250 km-wide (155 miles) corridor, U.S. space agency NASA said. In India, where eclipse superstitions are rife, people snaked through the narrow lanes of the ancient Hindu holy city of Varanasi and gathered for a dip in the Ganges, an act believed to bring release from the cycle of life and death.

Amid chanting of Hindu hymns, thousands of men, women and children waded into the river with folded hands and prayed to the sun as it emerged in an overcast sky. "We have come here because our elders told us this is the best time to improve our afterlife," said Bhailal Sharma, a villager from central India traveling in a group of about 100. But for one 80-year-old woman the trip was fatal. Police said she died from suffocation in the crowd of hundreds of thousands that had gathered to bathe in the Ganges.

The eclipse next swept through Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and over the crowded cities along China's Yangtze River, before heading to the Pacific. In Hindu-majority Nepal, the government declared Wednesday a public holiday and thousands headed for water. "Taking a dip in holy rivers before and after the eclipse salvages and protects us from disasters and calamities," said 86-year-old Sundar Shrestha, who had come to the holy Bagmati river with six children and grand children.

In central China crowds gathered along the high dykes of the industrial city of Wuhan, roaring and waving goodbye as the last sliver of sun disappeared, plunging the city into darkness, although clouds cheated them of part of the spectacle. "As soon as the totality happened, the clouds closed in so we couldn't see the corona. That's a pity," said Zhen Jun, a man whose work unit had given him the day off to enjoy the spectacle. But eclipse viewers in central China were luckier than those in the coastal cities near Shanghai, where overcast skies and rain in some places blocked the view of the sun entirely.

STUDYING SUNS'S CORONA




Eclipses allow earth-bound scientists a rare glimpse of the sun's corona, the gases surrounding the sun, and this year there will be extra time for study. "This is indeed quite an important event for scientific experiments. Its long duration provides you an opportunity to make very complicated, complex experiments," said Harish Bhatt, dean at the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

Scientists in China planned to snap two-dimensional images of the sun's corona -- up to 2 million degrees Celsius (3.6 million F) hot -- at roughly one image per second, Bhatt said. The eclipse lasted up to a maximum of 6 minutes, 39 seconds over the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA. It will be the longest eclipse of this century and will not be surpassed until June 13, 2132, according to NASA (here).

The eclipse is seen as a mixed blessing for millions of Indians. Those who considered it auspicious bathed in holy rivers and ponds for good fortune during the solar blackout. But astrologers predicted the eclipse spelled bad luck for others. Expectant mothers asked doctors to advance or postpone births to avoid complications or a miserable future for children. Parents in several schools in India's capital, New Delhi, kept their children home from classes since the eclipse coincided with breakfast. According to Hindu custom, it is inauspicious to prepare food during an eclipse. Continued...
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- Cosmicintelligenceagency.com


"The total solar eclipse on July 22nd 2009 will be a powerful solar eclipse between two lunar eclipses ( July 7th 2009 and August 6th 2009). This year we have two new moons during the Sun’s sojourn Cancer, sometimes referred to as a Pink Moon, whereas two Full Moons in a month are referred to as Blue Moons. This total solar eclipse at 29 degrees Cancer is the first solar eclipse along the Cancer-Capricorn axis in years, thus the harbinger of the nodal axis changing signs. The eclipse resonates to the themes of Pluto in Capricorn: sweeping changes as old systems fail the struggle of bringing about positive social and political reforms. Uranus trines the eclipse point adding to the unpredictability, the uncertainty about how we all feel about the great changes ahead."

Earthobservatory.nasa.gov

8.30 a.m. Taiwan - Photo by MTSAT


CNN: NASA Earth pictures show extent of eclipse
-- NASA has released new pictures of the Earth showing the vast extent of Wednesday's spectacular solar eclipse. The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean, luring millions outside to watch the spectacle. Day turned into night, temperatures turned cooler in cities and villages teemed with amateur stargazers. The total eclipse started in India on Wednesday morning and moved eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific. Watch the 'exceptional' eclipse » NASA said the two images, left, were taken from a Japanese satellite. The first showed the Earth at 8.30 a.m. local time in Taiwan and the second, an hour later, when the moon completely overlapped the sun (called totality) casting a huge shadow over the area. The longest period of totality occurred over the Pacific, where the total eclipse lasted more than six minutes, NASA said. View the eclipse in pictures » Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth's orbit.


9.30 a.m. Taiwan


The Moon’s shadow engulfed Taiwan and a large swath of southeastern China and the Pacific Ocean on the morning of July 22, 2009, during an unusually long total eclipse of the Sun. This pair of images from the Japanese geostationary satellite MTSAT show the view of Earth at 8:30 a.m. local time in Taiwan (left) and an hour later (right), near the time in eastern China when the disk of the Moon completely overlapped the disk of the Sun (called totality). The longest period of totality occurred over the Pacific, where the total eclipse lasted more than 6 minutes.

These images combine current “daytime” data observed by MTSAT during the eclipse with a static background image of city lights for the “nighttime” portion of the globe. [Geostationary satellites don’t have the sensitivity or spatial resolution to detect urban lights at night.] The night lights background is part of the NASA Blue Marble image collection, developed by the Earth Observatory Team in cooperation with scientists from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

References




Exploratorium.edu. (n.d.) Total Solar Eclipse, July 22, 2009. Accessed July 22, 2009.
U.S. Naval Observatory. (n.d.) The Sky This Week, 2009 July 17 – 24. Accessed July 22, 2009.
Espenak, F. (n.d.) Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22. NASA Eclipse Website. Accessed July 22, 2009.

Asianwindow.com: An obscure village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has suddenly shot into limelight as the best place in India to watch a total solar eclipse on 22 July. From BBC, Amarnath Tewary travels to Taregna to discover the excitement among locals. In Taregna, a science teacher is busy teaching her students about solar eclipses and how they can be viewed safely. The students of St Mary School are being told that viewing the Sun’s harsh light should only be done through proper solar telescopes or glasses. Astro-physicists and scientists have marked the village as the “epicentre” of the eclipse. The name Taregna, incidentally, means counting stars in Hindi.

- Photo by Jun Lao, Wuhan, China, Jul. 22, 2009 "While we were able to view the partial stages of the eclipse in Wuhan, the critical moments from third
to fourth contact were hidden in clouds, but we were treated to a wonderful view of the darkness coming from the Moon's shadow approaching, then
receding from us, as projected on the clouds. " (more)

"On Wednesday, 2009 July 22, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the path crosses Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curves southeast through the Pacific Ocean where the maximum duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean." (more)





- See also: Eclipse Weather and Maps (Jay Anderson) - NASA Eclipse website
- Solar Eclipse 22.07.2009 Coverage: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE ... E2009.html
- Maps of the Eclipse Track, July 22, 2009: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~jander/tot ... 9intro.htm

- 2009 July 22 Total Solar Eclipse - India, China, Micronesia
- 2010 January 15 Annular Solar Eclipse - Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China
- 2010 July 11 Total Solar Eclipse - Cook Islands, Tahiti, Polynesia, Easter Is., Argentina
- 2012 May 20/21 Annular Solar Eclipse - China, Hong Kong, Japan, USA
- 2012 November 13 Total Solar Eclipse - Australia

- Web page devoted to eclipses, transits, occultations and other astronomical events: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~jander/
- Website with informations about all of the upcoming total solar eclipses worldwide: http://www.squidoo.com/eclipse_info

Slideshow: Solar Eclipse in Asia (more)


Global Media Coverage: India Reacts To The Total Solar Eclipse

When Ankit Sarwahi gazed at the sky to view the eclipse, he was speechless. "It was so strange to see the sun disappear into complete darkness," he said. "Awesome", "fantastic", "magical," were some words he used to describe the experience. The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century was witnessed at the crack of dawn by millions of Indians. People gathered on rooftops, planetariums, riverbanks and open grounds to watch this celestial spectacle. A total eclipse occurs every 123 years, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, completely covering the entire face of the sun.

The eclipse was expected to be clearly visible in many places including Surat, Bhopal, Varanasi, Taregna near Patna, and Dibrugarh in Assam. However, in the end, it could only clearly be seen in Varanasi and Dibrugarh. "It's a rare moment; I never thought I would see this in my life," said Apoorv Prakash, a college student who traveled to Varanasi all the way from Delhi to view the total solar eclipse. "Vehicles in the city had to use headlights as darkness fell suddenly for three minutes and 48 seconds (the duration of the eclipse)," Prakash said. "People were mesmerized. They were so shocked that they hugged each other and cheered when the eclipse began."

Anubhav Kumar, a resident of Mumbai who had booked his air ticket a month in advance to travel to Varanasi to view this wonder of science said, "It was a life time opportunity. I am incredibly lucky to have seen the sight of the century." But people like Nishant Sinha and Pratima Kulkarni who traveled all the way from Bangalore to Taregana village near Patna, were disappointed as cloudy skies prevented them from witnessing the rare phenomenon.

Incidentally, it was at Taregna where the ancient astronomer Aryabhatta (or Aryabhatha, 476-550 AD) made detailed and accurate projections about solar and lunar eclipses. But while thick clouds and heavy rains in various parts of India prevented people from viewing the eclipse in its entirety, residents of Kolkata witnessed a near total eclipse. "The experience was indescribable. As suddenly as it had begun, my first total solar eclipse was over," Sunny Basu said. The total phase of the eclipse lasted for about 6 minutes and 44 seconds, making it the longest eclipse of the century.

India

When Ankit Sarwahi gazed at the sky to view the eclipse, he was speechless. "It was so strange to see the sun disappear into complete darkness," he said. "Awesome", "fantastic", "magical"...
___


Related News on Huffington Post:

Solar Eclipse Shrouds Asia In Daytime Darkness (SLIDESHOW)
- Tokyo, Japan (AP) — Millions of Asians turned their eyes skyward Wednesday as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across the continent in the longest total...

Solar Eclipse, Longest This Century, Draws Thousands To India (SLIDESHOW)
- Taregna, India (AP) — Hordes of scientists, students and nature enthusiasts prepared Tuesday for the longest total solar eclipse of this century, while millions planned...

Solar Eclipse Videos - Photos
- People throughout Asia gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday to view the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. Here are some videos of the eclipse...

AP

Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in daytime darkness
By Eric Talmadge, AP Writer, Jul. 21, 2009





Tokyo, Japan (AP) -- Millions of Asians turned their eyes skyward Wednesday as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across the continent in the longest total solar eclipse this century will see. Millions of others, fearing a bad omen, shuttered themselves indoors.

Chinese launched fireworks and danced in Shanghai. On a remote Japanese island, bewildered cattle went to their feeding troughs thinking night had fallen. And in India, a woman was crushed as thousands of viewers crowded the banks of the Ganges for a glimpse.

Starting off in India just after dawn, the eclipse was visible across a wide swath of Asia before moving over southern Japan and then off into the Pacific Ocean. In some parts of Asia, it lasted as long as 6 minutes and 39 seconds. (more)


- Rajesh Kumar Singh /AP Photo

- Students practice using solar eclipse goggles after a demonstration on how to safely watch Wednesday's solar eclipse, in Allahabad, India, Tuesday, July 21, 2009. Millions of people across Asia witnessed the longest total solar eclipse that happened this century, as vast swaths of India and China, the entire city of Shanghai and southern Japanese islands were plunged into darkness Wednesday for about five minutes.


- Rajesh Kumar Singh /AP Photo

-A teacher demonstrates the use of solar eclipse goggles to safely watch Wednesday's solar eclipse, in Allahabad, India, Tuesday, July 21, 2009.


- Ajit Solanki /AP Photo

- Visitors try out solar view goggles after a demonstration on safely watching a solar eclipse at the Science City in Ahmedabad, India.


- Ajit Solanki /AP Photo

- A boy looks into a telescope, as a girl tries out a solar view goggles after a demonstration on safely watching at the Science City in Ahmedabad, India.


- Ajit Solanki /AP Photo

- A woman walks across a temporary campsite on Amami Oshima, Japan, Wednesday morning, July 22 , 2009. Space enthusiasts gathered on this southern island to witness the longest total solar eclipse that happened this century in Asia.


- Koji Sasahara /AP Photo

- A man lies on a mattress in a huff in gray-sky morning at a temporary campsite on Amami Oshima, Japan.


- Xinhua, Wang Peng /AP Photo

- In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, solar eclipse is seen in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, at 8:33 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Scientists, students and nature enthusiasts gathered in open spaces in parts of India to watch the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, although heavy cloud cover and overnight rains threatened to spoil the party.


- Xinhua, Yang Lei /AP Photo

- In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Baily's Beads of solar eclipse is seen in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, at 9:16 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Hundreds of millions of people across China, India and Japan will witness the longest solar eclipse of the century on Wednesday.


- Lee Jin-man /AP Photo

- A South Korean woman tries to take picture of the solar eclipse through special sunglasses in Seoul, South Korea.


- AP Video: Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in darkness after dawn




- A Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, watches the solar eclipse through specially-designed viewing glasses in Allahabad, India.




- A partial solar eclipse silhouettes birds surrounding a minaret of the shrine of Sufi Saint Bah-ud-din, India


Slideshow: Solar Eclipse in Asia

- A total solar eclipse is seen in Varanasi, India, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
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- The ultimate resource for eclipse photography: http://mreclipse.com

- Eclipses Online is HMNAO's canon of eclipses which contains a wealth of information on solar and lunar eclipses past, present and future: http://www.eclipse.org.uk

- Hindu devotees observe a solar eclipse through specially-designed viewing glasses as they take holy dips in the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati River, in Allahabad, India.




- Visitors watch a tidal bore at the Qiantang River after a solar eclipse in Yanguan town, Haining City, China, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century pitched a swath of Asia into near-darkness after dawn, as millions watched the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon Wednesday.