Solar eclipse日蝕

The solar eclipse that will take place on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 will be a total eclipse of the Sun.

It will be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century,
lasting at most 6 minutes, 39 seconds.
It has sparked tourist interest in eastern China and India.

The eclipse is part of series 136 in the Saros cycle, like the record setting Solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The exceptional duration is a result of the moon being near perigee, with the diameter of the moon 8% larger than the sun (magnitude 1.080). This is second in the series of three eclipses in a month. There was a lunar eclipse on July 7 and now a solar eclipse on July 22 and then a lunar eclipse on August 6.