Here comes the sun, but wait until next year for better view

By Cai Wenjun and Lu Feiran  |   2008-8-1  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

LOCAL residents may not see the partial solar eclipse due to take place between 6:28pm and 6:50pm today because of the weather.

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau is forecasting rain or thunderstorms. But even if there's no rain, thick cloud will still prevent a clear view of the eclipse, forecasters said.

But not to worry. There will be total solar eclipse next year at about 9:30am on July 22 and Shanghai will be one of the best spots in the country to see the phenomenon, which won't happen again until June, 2309. The last total solar eclipse in the city was in 1575.

The total solar eclipse can be seen today in Hami of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Gansu Province from 6:08pm to 8:04pm.

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory will broadcast the total eclipse on its Website (www.astron.sh.cn/live/2008eclipse/) from 5:30pm. The Website will show the scenes at the observation site at Hami, where some 50 local astronomy enthusiasts have travelled to see the event. According to experts from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, anywhere with good view of the sunset will be best place to see the eclipse. "But the ideal condition is a fine and clear day," observatory official Tang Haimin said.

Total solar eclipses usually occur only once every 200 to 300 years in the same place. But it is a frequent phenomena around the world.

A Chinese scientist has worked out a timetable for people in different parts of the country to watch today's solar eclipse.

Cao Yun, deputy researcher of Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhuanet.com that he listed three time points of the solar eclipse for major cities in China.

Favorable weather is predicted in Xinjiang's Hami and Gansu's Jiuquan. And more than 2,000 people have gathered in Yiwu County of Hami City, 500 kilometers east of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.