28 July : A total eclipse of the Sun will occur in the afternoon of Friday, the 1st August 2008. The eclipse will be visible as a partial eclipse throughout India. In general, the total eclipse will be visible in the region covering northern and eastern parts of North America, Greenland, northern Europe and Asia except Japan. Considering the Earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 1334 Hrs IST when the shadow of the Moon first touches the Earth at local sunrise near a point in the North Atlantic Ocean close to New Found land in Canada. The eclipse ends at 1808 Hrs IST when the Moon’s shadow finally leaves the Earth at local sunset near a point in the Bay of Bengal close to Andaman Nicobar Island.
The total phase begins at 1453 Hrs IST at a point near south eastern coast of Victoria Island in northern Canada. The total phase ends at 1650 Hrs IST at a point near Xi’an in south east China. The greatest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.040 occurs at 1551 Hrs IST near a point close to Nadym in northern Russia. The duration of the total phase at this point is 2 Minutes 30 Seconds.
Next total eclipse of the Sun will occur on 22nd July, 2009. The path of the totality of the same eclipse will pass through India.