Solar Totality（File）
CAS (abbr. of Chinese Academy of Sciences), NAOC (abbr. of National Astronomical Observatories Chinese Academy of Sciences) and other sections jointly held a press conference on May 19, 2009 and introduced that during 08:00am to around 11:00am of this July 22, there will happen a solar totality which is most lasting since bimillenium and also most significant within the 21st century. Furthermore, China is the best obersavation place in the world.
As what attended experts said, this totality will last for over two hours from initial wane to completion. The longest seeable solar totality will reach 6 minutes within China. Width of totality band will extend 250 kms, from west to east through south Tibet, central Sichuan, south Hubei, south Henan, south Anhui, south Jiangsu, north Zhejiang, Shanghai and so on autonomous region, provinces and city.
It is introduced that it will be the longest period of solar totality during the past 2143 years. "Common solar totality averagely lasts for 3 minutes or so. But this time, it will rarely soar 5 to 6 minutes in the middle and lower reaches of Changjiang River in China." ZHAO Gang said as Director of Chinese Astornotary Society (abbr. CAS) and Vice-head of NAOC.
In the conference, CAS and NAOC also awarded tablets and certificates of "2009 Solar Totality Designated Observation Point" to the 8 cities of Tongling, Tongcheng, Yixian, Jiaxing, Suzhou, Gaochun, Changzhou and Wuxi.
Beijing: Partial Solar Eclipse Can Be Seen
ZHAO Gang mentioned that except those places where totality band cross China covers, in our all other places, people can observe partial solar eclipse at different levels. Beijing citizens will be able to observe partial solar eclipse at that time; the sun will be sheltered 70% to 80%. "People can feel nigrescence but it's not obvious." He said and reminded if citizens want to observe, observasion tools must be gotten ready; artial eclipse is never observed by naked eyes.
Kindly Reminder
Experts specially stressed that to some certain stages of solar totality, if people adopt unscientific observation methods, his/her eyes will be wounded, extremely permanent ablepsia. During the period of partial eclipse, safer measures are wearing a pair of observation glasses or observing thru reflection of laver with ink. Optical filters must be inserted in the front of ocular or detector to those who will use telescope to observe. But in the period of totality, people can see by unaided eyes.