Project's diary

Early in the morning on 22 July, 2009, at around 01.00 GMT (05.00 Moscow time) the trajectories of the Sun and Moon will converge at a particular point in the celestial sphere, and on Earth the Moon’s shadow will fall on India. This will mark the beginning of one of the most beautiful phenomena in the natural world and astronomy – a full solar eclipse, which, this year, will move from Asia across India, China, Japan, the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, and will finish its journey on the Pacific Ocean at around nine in the morning Moscow time (05.00 GMT). This year’s eclipse is unique in duration. At its climax, the Earth will be plunged into darkness for 6 minutes and 39 seconds. However, this long period of darkness will only be observed by sailors out at sea and a few lucky yacht owners – the point of maximum eclipse (northern latitude 21°12.6', eastern longitude 144°06.4') will be on the Pacific Ocean close to the edge of the Philippine Sea. India’s inhabitants will be able to feast their eyes on the fiery-edged black disk of the Sun for around three and a half minutes, and China, across which the Moon’s shadow passes, will be plunged into darkness for 4.5 to 6 minutes.

This year’s most powerful solar flare was photographed by TESIS telescopes in the southern hemisphere of the Sun on July 5th, 2009. The flash lasted 11 minutes from 10:07 until 10:18 Moscow time, reaching its peak at 10:13 Moscow time. At its highest point, the intensity of solar X-rays reached level С2.7 on the 5-point GOES scale.

One of this year’s largest mass ejections from the Sun’s atmosphere was recorded last Sunday by TESIS telescopes aboard the CORONAS-PHOTON satellite (video - wmv 4.3 MB). The source of the ejection was the active area currently located on the far side of the Sun, which is, as yet, invisible from Earth. In total, approximately 10³-10⁶ million tons of ionized gas was released into interplanetary space.