Annular eclipse races across China
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Annular eclipse in southwest China's Chengdu |
People across China turned their eyes skyward Friday when daylight faded as the sun changed into blazing ring surrounding a dim disk Friday afternoon.
The annular eclipse, which is predicted to be the longest in duration for the next 1,000 years globally, would cross China and be visible in parts of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces as well as Chongqing municipality, said Cheng Zhuo, researcher of the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China witnessed its last annular solar eclipse 23 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1987, and Friday's is considered to be the longest between Aug. 4, 1992, to Dec. 23, 3043, Cheng said.
"Many amateur astronomers have taken time off work and spent a lot on money traveling to see it," said Lin Qing, head of the Sheshan Station of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Lin is the leader of the "sun chaser group" that will view the eclipse from Dali City, in southwest China's Yunnan Province, which is thought to be the best location for observation.
"We travel across China simply to witness magnificent astronomical phenomena," Lin said.
Lin's group is one of the hundreds swarming into Yunnan from other parts of China. Almost all hotel rooms are full in Dali.
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