Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22
 in Japan, China and the Marshall Islands

After leading a tour to Tibet up to Mount Everest base camp, I came back in the Shanghai area, on Yangshan Island, to observe the 2009 July 22 total solar eclipse at its longest duration in China. Unfortunately weather conditions started to worsen on July 21^st. On the eve of the eclipse during our Eclipse-City InterSoles conference, we decided to inform the participants that we were offering a last minute relocation to Chongqing for those wishing to optimize their chances. Those who went to Chongqing had a fairly clear view of the eclipse, while the others mainly saw darkness for nearly six minutes…
Eclipse observations from Iwo Jima island in Japan and Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands were both successful.

You can use this solar eclipse calculator to compute the local circumstances of the eclipse, and the solar eclipse timer notifies the beginning of the various events. A time exposure calculator is there to help you choose your camera settings.