A total solar eclipse will occur on Friday, August 1, 2008.

The moon’s shadow takes on a very interesting path, beginning from Canada, bending over northern Greenland, the Arctic, and going towards Russia, Mongolia and China.

Therefore the people in Russia, Mongolia and the Arctic regions will enjoy the solar eclipse in totality. In India, it will be visible as a partial eclipse.

The eclipse commences at 1.34 p.m. IST, when the shadow of the moon first touches the Earth at a point in the North Atlantic Ocean near New Foundland in Canada.

The eclipse will end at 6.08 p.m. in the Bay of Bengal close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The total phase starts at 2.53 p.m. IST at a point close to southeastern coast of Victoria Island in northern Canada. The total phase will end at 4.50 p.m. IST at a point near Xi’an in southeast China.

The biggest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.040 takes place at 3.51 p.m. IST at a point close to Nadym in northern Russia. The period of the total phase at this point is 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Another total solar eclipse will occur on 22 July 2009. The path of the totality of the same eclipse will pass through India.