The Eclipse Of 22 July 09

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Aaron Hong
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The Eclipse Of 22 July 09

Post by Aaron Hong » Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:20 am

Singapore's getting sattelite tv all the way from China covering this event. It should be showing up here as well, only there's a bit of a downpour and some overcast sky here so all we'll be getting is some darkness when it happens. Until then China tv's been happily laying on the eclipse trivia to fill up time.

Apart from being 10 times the size of Singapore, the city of Wuhan in the state of Hubei also has an elaborate astronomy park, complete with giant sundials, and right now all the public's gathered here with telescopes. It says a lot that a fifth of the women present are with the tv station.

Turns out China's so huge that parts of it are already in total darkness. Over in Chengdu, the government's obligingly turned on the street lights for 'em.

The irony of the Chinese people taking an interest in telescopes and astronomy, the legacy of Mr. 'Fight The Power' Galileo himself, has not been lost on me.

EDIT: Wuhan is getting dark now, and the people are livid. Apparently the eclipse comes with a drop in the temperature and some raised windspeed at the same time... don't people usually take shelter when that happens? :D My dad apparently remembers when him and his family were dragged out to the yard and made to bang on the pans and pots to scare away the Sky Dog trying to swallow the sun. :eek:

EDIT2: Zhejiang city is getting a particularly interesting view - instead of total darkness, they're getting a halo instead. I dunno how that works.

EDIT 3: Now Suzhou has gotten the halo type eclipse. Apparenly it's not a China broadcast without pandas - one segment was devoted to the pandas' reactions to the eclipse. Confusion for the most part, some were falling asleep on their own, and at least one was running the fastest I have ever seen a panda run. My kids were squeeing the whole time.

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bumblemusprime
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Post by bumblemusprime » Wed Jul 22, 2009 4:41 pm

This is awesome. Keep us Westerners posted.

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Post by Aaron Hong » Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:18 pm

It's nighttime now and the buzz over it has died down somewhat. Aparently the overcast sky here in Singapore didn't help things at all, with quite a bit of disappointment from people hoping to catch the eclipse action, since the moon only blocked about 5% of the sun in this region. You have to be pretty far north to catch this one, and news has it that India and Japan got a good view of it as well. Some got an actual total eclipse, while others got the halo type with partial darkness, and there's a few good shots of something they call the 'diamond ring', which lasts for a couple of seconds and looks exactly like what it sounds like. I learned something new today. :D
Last edited by Aaron Hong on Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Guest » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:08 pm

Reminds me of the eclipse of August '99.

Went down to Cornwall to be in the path of totality. Cloudy skies meant I never even got to see it, only its effects: The darkening, drop in temperature, stillness, quietening of animals, and weirdly-shaped shadows.

Had I stayed at home, I would've had an excellent view of a partial eclipse, apparently.

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Post by BB Shockwave » Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:27 pm

I remember the eclipse a few years ago -well it was nothing special, sadly.

But by the way, today is my birthday. And there is an eclipse in Asia. That should tell you something... :twisted:
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"I've come to believe you are working for the enemy, Vervain. There is no other explanation... for your idiocy." (General Woundwort)

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Post by Guest » Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:25 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:But by the way, today is my birthday. And there is an eclipse in Asia. That should tell you something... :twisted:
That somewhere, someone who now shares your birthday, will grow up to be an evil dictator hell-bent on conquering the eastern world?

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BB Shockwave
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Post by BB Shockwave » Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:11 pm

Rebis wrote:
BB Shockwave wrote:But by the way, today is my birthday. And there is an eclipse in Asia. That should tell you something... :twisted:
That somewhere, someone who now shares your birthday, will grow up to be an evil dictator hell-bent on conquering the eastern world?
Or that time is now finally to "reap the whirlwind!" (sorry for the Furmanism...) :twisted:
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"I've come to believe you are working for the enemy, Vervain. There is no other explanation... for your idiocy." (General Woundwort)

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Post by spiderfrommars » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:48 pm

Rebis wrote:Reminds me of the eclipse of August '99.
That was 10 years ago?

Christ I'm getting old.

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