(UPDATE) July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse

Posted by JC John Sese Cuneta (謝施洗) on 07.21.2009
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Report of the solar eclipse: Longest Total Solar Eclipse Report with photos and video coverage.

(Update 2009-07-22 6:45am ACT: Added additional Live Webcast links.)

Tomorrow, July 22, 2009, we will witness the longest Total Solar Eclipse ever recorded in history, but the totality will be visible only in India, Afghanistan, China, Taiwan, the Southern Islands of Japan, and the Pacific group of islands.

For the rest of us, we will witness only a Partial Solar Eclipse - but it isn’t reason enough to miss this because the next time we will have a record-breaking Total Solar Eclipse will be on June 13, 2132 - ALL of us living today will be gone by then.

Follow up:

(More Information can be found in my previous blogpost: Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 dated January 26, 2009.)

Yes, all of us. Generally, we live up to 120 years, now subtract that to the year 2132 and we get the year 2012. In other words, those who will witness another record-breaking TSE will be those born on 2012 onwards. Now consider the reality that today we live between 70 to 80 years old only, we already lost a third of our lifespan.

Anyway, let’s not talk about death. Below are the information that I think you should know before tomorrow. Read on…

The details

Start for those in the Philippines: 8:32am ACT
End: 11:02am ACT
Countries South of Taiwan will only witness a partial eclipse
The maximum eclipse will occur in the ocean at 02:35:21 UTC about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of Japan.
At its maximum point, the eclipse will last for 6 minutes and 39 seconds.

Percentages of the Eclipse in the Philippines

61.4% in Laoag City
59.2% in Vigan City
55.4% in Baguio City
49.5% in Megapolitan Manila
45.4% in Sorsogon
36.6% in Cebu
27.7% in Davao

When viewing, avoid using…

x-ray films
sunglasses
basins filled with water
smoked glass
photographic films
negatives

Professor Frederick Gabriana, of the Astronomy Philippines and an instructor of the Rizal Technological University Department of Astronomy, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that water had a five percent rating of reflectivity.
“That is, it reflects five percent of sunlight while allowing 95 percent to pass through. While this seems small, it is still 5,000 times bigger than the 0.00001 considered to be safe for solar observation,” he said.

Source: Partial solar eclipse to be seen July 22

The safest viewing method…

indirect viewing
pinhole camera
projecting the image of the sun onto a white piece of paper or a card using a pair of binoculars
a piece of cardboard with a small hole of about one millimeter in diameter
safe and certified solar filters - and be sure to follow the instructions!
And do not view the sun after the eclipse as it emits hazardous rays.