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July 21–22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse

Millions of people in India, China, and other parts of Asia witness a total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009. Cities such as Surat, in India, as well as Chengdu, Shanghai, and Wuhan, in China, experience the eclipse’s totality. Visitors at the Taj Mahal, which is listed as one of the modern world’s seven wonders, witness this eclipse.

This is the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. The moon's umbra travels along a track that is about 15,150km (about 9414 miles) long and covers 0.71 percent of the Earth’s surface area over a course of three hours and 25 minutes. The eclipse’s maximum duration of totality is six minutes and 39 seconds.

Was this Total Solar Eclipse visible in Washington DC?

What the Eclipse Looked Like Near the Maximum Point

The animation shows what the eclipse approximately looked like near the maximum point. The curvature of the Moon's path is due to the Earth's rotation.

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Where the Eclipse Was Seen

Try our new interactive eclipse maps. Zoom in and search for accurate eclipse times and visualizations for any location.


Path of the Eclipse Shadow

Regions that saw, at least, a partial eclipse: Asia, North in Australia, Pacific, Indian Ocean.

The eclipse's path

According to NASA, the path of the moon's umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China before curving south across the Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the moon's penumbral (partially shaded outer region) shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean.

Expand for some cities where at least part of the total eclipse was visible
Expand for some cities where partial eclipse was visible

Was this eclipse visible in Washington DC?

Eclipse Shadow Path

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

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The dark areas symbolize night and twilight.

When the Eclipse Happened Worldwide — Timeline

The eclipse started at one location and ended at another. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the eclipse occurred.

EventUTC TimeTime in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse beginJul 21 at 23:58:17Jul 21 at 7:58:17 pm
First location to see the full eclipse beginJul 22 at 00:51:16Jul 21 at 8:51:16 pm
Maximum EclipseJul 22 at 02:35:18Jul 21 at 10:35:18 pm
Last location to see the full eclipse endJul 22 at 04:19:23Jul 22 at 12:19:23 am
Last location to see the partial eclipse endJul 22 at 05:12:21Jul 22 at 1:12:21 am

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. Please note that the local times for Washington DC are meant as a guideline in case you want to view the eclipse via a live webcam. They do not mean that the eclipse is necessarily visible there.

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds.

Eclipses visible in Washington DC.

Next Total Solar Eclipse will be on Jul 11, 2010.

How Many People Can See This Eclipse?

Number of People Seeing...Number of People*Fraction of World Population
Any part of the eclipse3,780,000,00047.87%
At least 10% partial3,640,000,00046.13%
At least 20% partial3,570,000,00045.30%
At least 30% partial3,490,000,00044.18%
At least 40% partial3,330,000,00042.25%
At least 50% partial3,190,000,00040.39%
At least 60% partial2,980,000,00037.76%
At least 70% partial2,600,000,00032.99%
At least 80% partial2,070,000,00026.25%
At least 90% partial1,420,000,00018.00%
Totality or annularity474,000,0006.01%

* The number of people refers to the resident population (as a round number) in areas where the eclipse is visible. timeanddate has calculated these numbers using raw population data provided by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The raw data is based on population estimates from the year 2000 to 2020.

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the second eclipse this season.

First eclipse this season: July 7, 2009 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Third eclipse this season: August 5–6, 2009 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse


Eclipses in 2009