National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
Sun-Earth Day 2009: Total Solar Eclipse, China
Sun-Earth Day 2009: Total Solar Eclipse, China
The path of totality shown along the surface of the Earth (Courtesy - NASA Eclipse web site)
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.
NOTICE: Due to the time difference between China and the US, the on-line viewing time for the eclipse over Shanghai will be Tuesday, July 21 from 9:35pm to 9:41pm Eastern Daylight Time.
More eclipse information
| China/Hangzhou* Lat: 30° 36.0398' N Lon: 121° 07.7550' E | July 22 Local Time | July 22 UT/GMT | July 21 EDT | July 21 PDT |
| Totality | 9:35-9:41 AM | 01:35-01:41 | 9:35-9:41 PM | 6:35-6:41 PM |
| 1st contact | 8:22 AM | 00:22 UT | 8:22 PM | 5:22 PM |
| 2nd contact | 9:35 AM | 01:35 UT | 9:35 PM | 6:35 PM |
| 3rd contact | 9:41 AM | 01:41 UT | 9:41 PM | 6:41 PM |
| 4th contact | 11:01 AM | 03:01 UT | 11:01 PM | 8:01 PM |
* Safe viewing times for Shanghai are roughtly 9:36:44AM-9:41:49AM. Thank you to Abe Caplan of Shanghai for catching the error.
Live Web Cast
The National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences web site.
The National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
The National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences will broadcast from several locations along the path of totality: from Wuhan to Shanghai. The project, "Multi-site Federated Live Broadcast of Solar Eclipse on July 22, International Year of Astronomy 2009", will take full advantages of the latest technologies in network, multimedia and the emerging Web 2.0 technologies. Multiple observation sites will be organized inside the wide eclipse region, especially large cities inside the total solar eclipse belt. Signals from different sites will be collected to a central broadcast studio through high-speed network backbones. After synthesization, public signal will be released to various portals, including website, TV, mobile phone, etc, and then accessible for the public through these portals.