The solar eclipse that took place on August 1, 2008 was a total eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 1.039 that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), middle of Russia, western Mongolia, and China. It belonged to the so-called midnight Sun eclipses, as it was visible from regions experiencing midnight sun.
In Siberia, the total eclipse zone passed through populated places, including the "capital of Siberia" Novosibirsk, and the cities of Nizhnevartovsk, Barnaul, Biysk. Greatest eclipse duration was reached near the town of Nadym in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Northern Siberia.
A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including eastern North America and most of Europe and Asia.
Event Time (UTC)
Beginning of the general eclipse 08:04:06
Beginning of the total eclipse 09:21:07
Beginning of the central eclipse 09:24:10
Greatest eclipse 10:21:08
End of the central eclipse 11:18:29
End of the total eclipse 11:21:28
End of the general eclipse 12:38:27
In India
A partial solar eclipse was seen in India while the north-eastern parts of the country saw quite a large fraction of the disc of the Sun, eclipsed by the Moon.
"The partial eclipse was seen in the north-eastern region, starting from about 4 PM," Director Nehru Planetarium, Rathnasree, said.
The biggest and the last phase of the eclipse was visible from most parts of the country, except Nagaland and Mizoram, where the eclipse ended after sunset, she said.
The maximum obscuration of the sun occured at Sibsagar in Assam.
The eclipse could be viewed from all over the country. In Delhi, the eclipse started at 4:03 PM and ended at 5:56 PM. It was maximum at 5:02 PM.
In Mumbai it was from 4:27 PM to 6:03 PM, while in Chennai it was visible from 4:40 PM to 6:07 PM and in Kolkata it was seen between 4:18 PM and 6:02 PM where it was relatively free from cloud cover.
The southern parts of India saw between 20-40 per cent of the diameter of the sun, while the northern parts of the country saw between 40-70 per cent of the diameter of the sun, at maximum of the eclipse.
The solar eclipse could be seen by viewers around the world, including India, as Nasa, the US space agency had made arrangements to telecast live images of the rare celestial event.
Nasa in partnership with the Exploratorium Science Centre, San Francisco, and the University of California at Berkeley, transmited coverage of the total eclipse in a live streaming webcast.
Nasa TV covered the eclipse, to be visible in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China, from 1530 IST to 1745 IST.
The coverage originated from China, considered one of the best observation locations because of the weather conditions there.
Viewers all across the globe could see the eclipse as it happens on Nasa TV and by logging on to
www.Nasa.Gov.
NASA coverage featured views from telescopes and a live educational show during the eclipse.
The next solar eclipse -- a partial one -- will occur on January 26, 2009, but the phenomenon will be marginally visible from eastern and southern India.
