Tuesday, July 21, 2009

86.8%

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, but this time, it will only be visible in Northern India, across a swath of Central China and further east over the Pacific Ocean.

The eclipse is set to begin at 8:22 a.m. Wednesday and to end by 11:05 a.m., the Central Weather Bureau said. The full eclipse will be the longest for this century, lasting more than six minutes. There will not be another one of this length until the year 2132, experts say.

People are warned not to stare directly at the sun, because even during an eclipse, that could cause extreme harm to the eyes.

One of the methods used to see the phenomenon is the pinhole projection, letting the sunlight fall through a small hole in a piece of paper and project its light on a second piece of paper behind.

Counting down until 9:34

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