Eclipse 2009

The total solar eclipse of Wednesday, July 22, 2009 will be visible from India, Bhutan and China. From our selected observation site on Moganshan mountain, the eclipse will happen around 9:37am local time when the sun is at an altitude of 54 degrees above the horizon. Totality will last about 5min 50s. this eclipse the the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century.

The best source of information about this and other solar eclipses is the NASA Eclipse Web Site. The following maps and charts are modifications of the NASA sources.

Moganshan lies near the center line (latitude 30°35'58"N longitude 119°54'04"E),

Unfortunately, July is the monsoon season for this part of the world and chances for clear skies are not great. Satellite data for the past 20 years shows that the average cloud cover here in July is around 52%.

So we'll be testing our luck. If the sky is clear, we should be able to see, not only the sun's corona, but Mercury and the open star cluster M44 (NGC2632) as well. The bright stars Castor and Pollux (in Gemini, the Twins) will also shine brightly close to the sun.