China July 22nd 2009 Eclipse
The total solar eclipse on the 22nd of July 2009 will be the longest of the 21st century. Lasting over six and a half minutes at the maximum duration (in the same Saros as the long 1991 eclipse). Starting in India along the western shore near Surat the path of the shadow heads towards Butan touching the southern tip of Nepal and the northern edge of Bangladesh. The eclipse passes over the Chinese cities of Chengdu, Suining, Chonging, Wuhan, Xiaogan, Hangzhou, and Shanghai by which time the duration of the eclipse is over five minutes of totality. Leaving Shanghai the path continues into the ocean encountering islands such as Toshima and Akusaki south of Japan and eventually the Marshall islands.
The maximum eclipse duration of 6 minutes and 43 seconds occurs far off the coast in the Pacific Ocean.