Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in darkness after dawn

Indrajit Kumar Singh, Associated Press Yahoo News 22 Jul 09;

TAREGNA, India – 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. A woman was killed in a stampede at the Ganges river in India, where devout Hindus had gathered for the eclipse.

Millions of others, gripped by fear, shuttered themselves indoors. India abounds in superstitions and fables based on Hindu mythology, one of which says an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun, while another myth is that sun rays during an eclipse can harm unborn children.

Thick cloud cover over India and China obscured the sun when the eclipse began at dawn. But the clouds parted in several Indian cities minutes before the total eclipse took place at 6:24 a.m. (0054 GMT; 8:54 p.m. EDT) before moving to Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China.

The eclipse — caused when the moon moves directly between the sun and the earth, covering it completely to cast a shadow on earth — lasted almost 4 minutes in India. In some parts of Asia it lasted as long as 6 minutes and 39 seconds.

In Beijing, a thick blanket of grayish smog blotted out the sky and virtually obscured all high-rises in the downtown area of the Chinese capital.

In coastal Shanghai, eclipse watchers were disappointed by a light drizzle in the morning. Dozens of people had gathered at one hotel rooftop with telescopes and special glasses.

But as the sky darkened fully for about five minutes, watchers became excited again.

Holding a big green umbrella and wearing special glasses, Song Chun Yun was prepared to celebrate the occasion in a new white dress.

"Although the rain came, I don't want to screw up the mood. I want to enjoy the special day," she said before dancing and singing in the rain with her two sisters. "I don't want to wait until the next 300 years to see this again."

In Bangladesh too, people came out in droves.

"It's a rare moment, I never thought I would see this in my life," said Abdullah Sayeed, a college student who traveled to Panchagarh town from the capital Dhaka to view it.

He said cars in the town needed to use headlights as "night darkness has fallen suddenly." People hugged each other and some blew whistles when the eclipse began, he said.

One of the best views, shown live on several television channels, appeared to be in the Indian town of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges river, sacred to devout Hindus.

Thousands of Hindus took a dip in keeping with the ancient belief that bathing in the river at Varanasi, especially on special occasions, cleanses one's sins. The eclipse was seen there for 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

But the gathering was marred by tragedy when a 65-year-old woman was killed and six people injured in a stampede at one of the river's banks where about 2,500 people had gathered, said police spokesman Surendra Srivastava.

He said it is not clear how the stampede started.

The eclipse — visible only in Asia — is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.

A 10-member team of scientists from the premier Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore and the Indian air force filmed the eclipse from an aircraft.

Scientists had said the Indian village of Taregna would have the clearest view, where thousands of scientists, nature enthusiasts and students gathered a day in advance.

But thick clouds and overnight rains provided no spectacle, just a cloudy darkness.

"It was still a unique experience with morning turning into night for more than three minutes," said Amitabh Pande, a scientist with India's Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators, in Taregna.

Still, the rain was welcomed by many in this agricultural area which has seen scant rainfall this monsoon season.

"It would have been nice to see the solar eclipse but the rain is far more important for us," said Ram Naresh Yadav, a farmer.

Millions across India shunned the sight and stayed indoors.

Even in regions where the eclipse was not visible, pregnant women were advised to stay behind curtains over a belief that the sun's invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby would be born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.

"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," said Krati Jain, 24, who is expecting her first child, said in New Delhi.

In the northern Indian state of Punjab, authorities ordered schools to begin an hour late to prevent children from venturing out and gazing at the sun.

Others saw a business opportunity: one travel agency in India scheduled a charter flight to watch the eclipse by air, with seats facing the sun selling at a premium.

At a Buddhist temple in the Thai capital Bangkok, dozens of monks led a mass prayer at a Buddhist temple to ward off what they said would be ill effects of a solar eclipse.

"The eclipse is bad omen for the country," said Pinyo Pongjaroen, a prominent astrologer. "We are praying to boost the fortune of the country."

On the Net:

Eclipses Online: http://www.eclipse.org.uk/

Mr. Eclipse: http://mreclipse.com/

Associated Press writers Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok, Thailand and researcher Ji Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.

Clouds 'likely to block eclipse in Shanghai'
Yahoo News 21 Jul 09;

SHANGHAI (AFP) – Heavy clouds and rain are likely to ruin the party for millions of people hoping to watch Wednesday's solar eclipse in Shanghai and other parts of eastern China, meteorologists said.

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau has predicted thunderstorms for when the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century starts at 8:30 am (0030 GMT), according to a forecast released Tuesday evening.

"It will be almost impossible to see the eclipse in Shanghai," Li Jinyu, the bureau's chief service operator, was quoted as telling the Shanghai Daily.

"Even if there is no rain, the heavy clouds will block the view," he said.

However people will still experience the sky changing from bright to dark, the report said.

Eastern China has been regarded as one of the best places in the world to view the total eclipse, which is expected to last about six minutes and reach its midpoint around 9:30 am.

The event is being described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which, due to its trajectory over China and India, could end up being the most watched eclipse in history.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is caught between the sun and the earth while each of them moves along their fixed orbits.

"This is a very important milestone. None of us will live long enough to see another one like it," said Federico Borgmeyer, the German-based manager of the specialist travel agency Eclipse City, who is in Shanghai for the event.

The travel agency said it would proceed with plans to take eclipse chasers to Shanghai's Yangshan island to experience the event despite the forecast.

Museums, observatories and specialty stores were sold out of solar eclipse glasses to protect eyes from the intense light, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The phenomenon has sparked a mini-tourism boom for Shanghai and other parts of eastern China, such as historic Hangzhou city.

Thousands of tourists from around the world have already descended on Shanghai, with hotels and restaurants in marquee locations such as the Bund being quickly booked out.

Hyatt on the Bund said its eclipse breakfast event remained fully booked and the weather concerns had not led to any cancellations.

"People are just looking for a reason to get together," hotel spokeswoman Meg Zhang said. "You can tell your boss: 'It's only once in 300 years'."

The next total solar eclipse will be on July 11, 2010 but far fewer people are likely to see it as it tracks across the South Pacific over French Polynesia and Easter Island to the southern tip of South America.

Indian air force planes to stalk eclipse
Yahoo News 21 Jul 09;

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India's air force will scramble a fighter jet and a transport plane filled with scientists to photograph and monitor Wednesday's total solar eclipse as it races across the country.

The Indian scientists will take off from the Taj Mahal town of Agra on a Russian AN-32 transporter and follow the shadow of the eclipse northwest until the central town of Khajuraho, the air force said.

The propeller-driven aircraft will cruise at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,570 metres), above the monsoon clouds that are threatening to obscure the phenomenon from people on the ground.

A French-designed Mirage-2000 fighter jet will also chase the eclipse, taking pictures as it goes.

Wednesday's eclipse has stirred up immense excitement due to its trajectory over India and China and the unusually long duration of the instant of greatest eclipse, or "totality" -- when the sun is wholly covered.

At its maximum, this will last six minutes and 39 seconds -- a duration that will not be matched until the year 2132.

The up to 258-kilometre- (161-mile-) wide shadow cast along the "path of totality" will first make landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30am (0100 GMT).

Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in cloak of darkness
Pedro Ugarte Yahoo News 22 Jul 09;

VARANASI, India (AFP) – The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century cast a shadow over much of Asia on Wednesday, plunging hundreds of millions into darkness across the giant land masses of India and China.

Ancient superstition and modern commerce came together in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity likely to end up being the most watched eclipse in history, due to its path over Earth's most densely inhabited areas.

While bad weather confounded some eclipse watchers, tens of thousands of people gathered at dawn on the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi where a largely cloudless morning offered a stunning view.

With Hindu priests conducting special prayers, the crowds cheered and then raised their arms in salutation as the sun re-emerged from behind the moon, before they took a spiritually purifying dip in the river's holy waters.

A total solar eclipse usually occurs every 18 months or so, but Wednesday's spectacle was special for its maximum period of "totality" -- when the sun is wholly covered by the moon -- of six minutes and 39 seconds.

Such a lengthy duration will not be matched until the year 2132.

State-run China Central Television provided minute-by-minute coverage of what it dubbed "The Great Yangtze River Solar Eclipse" as the phenomenon cut a path along the river's drainage basin.

Millions of people in areas of southwestern China enjoyed a clear line of sight, according to images broadcast on CCTV, but the view was obstructed along much of its path by cloudy weather.

Shanghai viewers braved rain and overcast skies to witness the spectacle as darkness shrouded China's commercial hub at 9:36 am (0136 GMT).

"It is working hours now, but with such a spectacle going on, you don't want to miss it. The experience is truly thrilling," said Allen Chen, a Shanghai office worker, who stepped out into the street to witness the event.

And despite the weather, hotels along Shanghai's famed waterfront Bund packed in the customers with eclipse breakfast specials.

Those who could afford it grabbed expensive seats on planes chartered by specialist travel agencies that promised extended views of the eclipse as they chased the shadow eastwards.

The cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, created by the total eclipse first made landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30 am (0100 GMT).

It then raced across India and squeezed between Bangladesh and Nepal before engulfing most of Bhutan, traversing the Chinese mainland and slipping back out to sea off Shanghai.

From there it moved across the islands of southern Japan and veered into the western Pacific.

In Mumbai, hundreds of people who trekked up to the Nehru planetarium clutching eclipse sunglasses found themselves reaching for umbrellas and rain jackets instead as heavy overnight rain turned torrential.

"We didn't want to watch it on television and we thought this would be the best place," said 19-year-old student Dwayne Fernandes. "We could've stayed in bed."

Others opted to stay home and shuttered their windows, fearful of the effects of the lunar shadow which some believe can lead to birth defects in pregnant women.

Superstition has always haunted the moment when Earth, moon and sun are perfectly aligned. The daytime extinction of the sun, the source of all life, is associated with war, famine, flood and the death or birth of rulers.

The ancient Chinese blamed a sun-eating dragon. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable.

Some Indian astrologers had issued predictions laden with gloom and foreboding, and a gynaecologist at a Delhi hospital said many expectant mothers scheduled for July 22 caesarian deliveries insisted on changing the date.

The last total solar eclipse was on August 1 last year and also crossed China.

The next will be on July 11, 2010, but will occur almost entirely over the South Pacific, where Easter Island -- home of the legendary moai giant statues -- will be one of the few landfalls.

Asia Darkens Under Longest Solar Eclipse Of Century
Sunil Kataria and Lucy Hornby, PlanetArk 23 Jul 09;

VARANASI,WUHAN - 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.

In ancient Chinese culture, an eclipse was an omen linked to natural disasters or deaths in the imperial family. Chinese officials and state media were at pains to reassure the public that city services would run normally.

In modern China, people who wished to see the astronomical rarity clearly tried to escape pollution, avoiding industrial cities where smog smudges the horizon, even on clear days.

"The majority of people decided to go to Tongning, in Anhui, because they're worried about the serious air pollution from industrial areas in Shanghai," said Bill Yeung, the president of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.

Those who chose Shanghai ended up fleeing to inland cities to escape the clouds, he added.

(Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Alex Richardson)

FACTBOX: Solar Eclipses, History And Science
Lucy Hornby PlanetArk 23 Jul 09;

(Reuters) - The longest eclipse of this century was passing through the world's two most populous nations, India and China, on Wednesday.

The total eclipse was crossing straight through India and northern Bangladesh, then along the Yangtze River in China from Chongqing to Shanghai. NASA said it would last a maximum of 6 minutes, 39 seconds.

Here are some facts about a solar eclipse:

- A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the earth, blocking out the sun from the areas in the moon's shadow. Without the sun's light, the sky darkens enough for stars to be seen and the sun's corona makes a spectacular halo around the moon.

- The first datable record of a solar eclipse was in 753 BC, in Assyria, but earlier notations, among them Chinese diviners' queries on oracle bones from 1,300-1,100 BC, clearly refer to eclipses.

- From 720-480 BC, astronomers in the state of Lu, now China's Shandong Province, recorded eclipses that can be reliably dated. By the first millennium AD, Chinese imperial astronomers could predict eclipses with an accuracy of within 15 minutes.

- Ancient Chinese eclipse records can be used to calculate the slowing of the earth's rotation, due to the braking action of the moon.

- A solar eclipse in 1919 helped confirm Einstein's theory of general relativity.

- Eclipses are also scientifically interesting because they allow a rare glimpse of the cooler corona, glowing gases near the sun's surface and solar flares, which are normally not visible due to the brightness of the sun.

- The next annular eclipse, in which the moon crosses the center of the sun but does not fully cover it, will be visible in central Africa, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China on January 15, 2010.

The next total eclipse, on July 11, 2010, will cross the South Pacific, making landfall only on the Cook Islands and Easter Island.

Sources: Dr F Richard Stephenson, Durham University; Dr Jay Pasachoff, Williams College; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

(Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Rain spoils view for 350 at Science Centre
Straits Times 23 Jul 09;

PEOPLE hoping to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse in Singapore were blocked by wet weather yesterday.

Despite the rain, more than 350 people showed up at the Science Centre to pick up a pair of solar filter spectacles and try to see the partial eclipse that would have been visible if the skies had stayed clear.

Undergraduate Tan Peng Wen, 21, said: 'I'm a little disappointed that we can't see anything as I got up early.'

Instead, visitors were treated to an animated simulation of the eclipse if it had been viewed from Singapore and China, a talk by science educator Andrew Melia, and a tour of the observatory.

A group from The Astronomical Society of Singapore which travelled to Wuhan, China, for the eclipse, had better luck - they caught glimpses of the five-minute event through clouds.

'I'm happy for the first-timers who got to see totality (when the moon totally covers the sun), and the eerie light around the horizon,' said the society's president Albert Lim, who led the group on the trip.

VICTORIA VAUGHAN