Longest Solar Eclipse of the Century: Updated

My eldest son has flown off to Japan, there to join with friends, and travel onward to an eclipse watching party in Thailand. I was not invited. Something tells me that watching the eclipse is not all he has in mind.

Sigh. If I had to wager -- all offerings to Rahu aside -- I would wager they are going on a tiger hunt, not realizing that they are the prey.

Wonder where he gets it?

Anyway, this eclipse will last 6 minutes and 37 seconds, which makes it the longest of the century. Nobody will see another like it until 2132. It is taking place at 29 degrees Cancer, and will hit the Cancer/Capricorn axis, the first such positioning since 1990. The (Western) astrologers are saying this ends the cycles set in motion in 1990 (surely they mean 1991), and begins a new chapter.

If you want a clue as to what Tibetan astrologers are thinking, you have only to look at this year's crop of empowerments around the globe.

The eclipse will be visible betwen 7 to 9 a.m. in Thailand, if it isn't raining -- which is rather a slim window of possibility.

Expanded solar eclipse coverage here.

UPDATED: Asia is just waking up as I write this update, and Rahu is getting ready to swallow the Sun. I should probably note that Asian astrologers aren't very happy with this eclipse. In India, the Vedic astrologers are predicting political upheaval and acts of terrorism. From the traditional Chinese view, this sort of eclipse presages imperial instability.