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Total Solar Eclipse 2010: Location and Duration

Total Solar Eclipse July 11, 2010 - For a total duration of four minutes and 41 seconds the whole Easter Island will be covered in darkness as a total solar eclipse passes through the island for the first time in 1,400 years. A rare phenomenon which might be a curse to contradict the prediction of Paul the Octopus and make Netherlands win.

Seriously, the total solar eclipse will only be visible on one other island aside from Easter and that is at Mangaia Island also known as Cook Islands. Other parts of the Southern Pacific Ocean and South America will just see a partial solar eclipse except for the Souther part of Chile and Argentina who will see the final moments of the total solar eclipse.

"One of the most unique things about this particular eclipse is that it crosses a unique and interesting archaeological site: Easter Island. On Easter Island there are these great statues... There's a lot of mystery about these statues, but in any case, this is the first total eclipse that's hit the island in about 1,400 years," observes Fred Espenak, NASA Astrophysicist.

The eclipse which have a total duration of five minutes and 20 seconds overall will start at around 17:00 UTC and will end at around 22:00 UTC. UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time and is also referred to as International Atomic Time (TAI). In layman's term when specific time is not concerned it is equivalent to GMT.

The eclipse today will end at sunset over the southern tips of Argentina and Chile in South America. This falls at sunset and will be visible in towns like El Calafate and in Santiago, Chile. The Sun will just be at a low altitude during the entire 2 minutes and 47 seconds final phase. The sun will be hanging just above the rugged Andes skyline.

Meanwhile to coincide with the first total solar eclipse in 1,400 years, Ester Island is also holding its first ever "Total Solar Eclipse Festival of Tribal and Cosmic Arts." The event started July 7, 2010 and will be until Tuesday, July 13. The event is spearheaded by Dreamvibe.


Another eclipse will happen on December 21, 2010 but this time it will be a total lunar eclipse and will be visible in North America and western South America.


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