Vietnam to see longest solar eclipse in 1,000 years today

^- ⁺ A^- A⁺ 15/01/2010

An annular solar eclipse, believed to be the longest in 1,000 years, will occur on January 15 and can be observed in parts of Vietnam, according to the Geophysics Institute of Vietnam’s Academy of Science and Technology.

As a result of the solar eclipse, people in Vietnam will also be able to observe Venus, said the institute.
The January 15 eclipse will start in Africa and move across the Indian Ocean, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and China. It will last from 14:11pm. to 17:05pm (Hanoi time).
Nguyen Duc Phuong, a member of the Vietnam Astronomy Association, told VNExpress that the solar eclipse will start in Dien Bien and Lai Chau at 2.11pm and in Hanoi and HCM City at 3.49 and 3.41pm. It will finish in Cao Bang and Ha Giang at around 5.06pm.
The strongest affect will be noticed in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, where 74.9 percent of the sun will be blocked at 15:46 p.m. In Hanoi and HCM City, the obscuration will be 67.3 and 38.1 percent.
The Indian Ocean will see the most dramatic eclipse while the obscuration in Vietnam today is equivalent to the longest total solar eclipse of the century on July 22 2009.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially covered. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction from Earth.
At least two and up to five solar eclipses can occur each year on Earth, with up to two of them being total eclipses. Total solar eclipses are nevertheless rare at any location because during each eclipse totality exists only along a narrow corridor in the relatively tiny area of the Moon' + char(39)+ N's umbra.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.

Source: VietNamNet

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