Total Solar Eclipse Plan 2009
The total solar eclipse of 22nd of July 2009 will be the longest eclipse of the 21st Century being 6 minutes 38 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse.
The path of the eclipse will include India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, southern Japan and the Marshall and Gilbert Islands as well as many smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean Of the land areas from where totality is visible.
Current eclipse plans
For 2009, I will be rejoining the members of the Astronomical Association of Queensland and Dick Cijffers of Journeys Worldwide with who we travelled to the total eclipse in Libya.
We've now got a more detailed idea of our schedule for the 2009 eclipse. We expect to be in Shanghai in mid-July-ish. On the 20th we will head down to Hangzhou which will be about a three hour drive. The 22nd of July is the total solar eclipse. We will be viewing the eclipse from Qiantang River Tidal Bore viewing area which will give us totality of 5 minutes 40 seconds. The Qiantang River Tidal Bore is about an hours drive from we are staying in Hanzghou.
The eclipse will begin at 09:38 local time at a 57 degree altitude and we expect to arrive with plenty of time to setup the equipment our group will certainly bring.
The eclipse will end at 11:05 and around 1½ hours later one of the largest ever tidal bores is expected which we hope to experience.
On the 23rd, we are expecting to head to Suzhou which is the traditional centre of the Chinese Silk industry. From Suzhou we will probably head back to Shanghai by train, which is apparently very scenic and will take around 2 hours. We're hoping to take the magnetic levitation train which operates at speeds up to 430 kph from Maglev Railway Station to Shanghai Airport.
We will also be visitied Lhasa in Tibet. The details of the Tibetan section of our travels have yet to be finalised but we will be visited Tibet prior to the Eclipse.
We are also looking into going to Temple to the God of War in Xiehou and Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi Province.
Currently we are researching and extension to the trip that will, most likely, include a trip to Xi'an to visit the Terracotta Army and Lhasa, in Tibet.
We are also aware that some will be planning to visit Beijing, Guilin and Yangshuo and Luzhi as well those places we have mentioned above.
Eclipse path
NASA have published an interactive Google map of the eclipse.
- Orthographic (Global) Projection of the 2009 Total Solar Eclipse
- 2009 Eclipse Path Through India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh
- 2009 Eclipse Path Through China
- 2009 Eclipse Path Through Southern Japan
- 2009 Eclipse Path Through the Marshall and Gilbert Islands
Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC
Eclipse maps are reproduced courtesy of Fred Espenak - NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
Eclipse tour operators
We have compiled a short list of tour operators which run trips to Eclipses. With the exception of Journeys World Wide we have not used any of these operators and cannot, therefore, provide a recommendation either way.
Ken Lee of Mountain Adventures has contact me to let me know they have a tour for China 2009 about 15 days combining 4 days along the coast of Hangzhou for the eclipse then our 10 day tour of Yunnan province.
Winco Eclipse Tours, Inc., offers an Eclipse Expedition 2009 + Luxury Yangtze Cruise. - July 6 - 24, 2009 - - 18 Days & 17 Nights in China. Highlights include Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Chengdu,Dazu, Chongqing, Yangzte River Cruise on MS Explorer - the smallest & most elegant cruise ship on the Yangtze, Hangzhou, Coastal Villages, nearly 6 minutes of Totality, Shanghai. Group limited to 20. No Smoking. Winco - we have successfully seen every TSE to which we have traveled. Eclipse viewing location chosen by meteorologist Peter R. Leavitt CCM. The Winco Eclipse Tours website is at www.wincoeclipsetours.com
Tour operators wishing to do so may submit their current plans to me if they wish to have such republished here on the condition that you keep me informed of any changes/updates.
2009 Eclipse in the news
The 2009 Eclipse is already making news.
- Tours are aligning to the east for 2009's total solar eclipse - from The Tennessean.com