NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Solar Eclipse

NASA, in partnership with the Exploratorium Science Center, San Francisco, Calif., and the University of California at Berkeley, will transmit live images of the Aug. 1, 2008, total eclipse of the sun.

The eclipse will be visible in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China. NASA TV will cover the event from 6 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT. The coverage will originate from China, considered one of the best observation locations because of the weather conditions there. The period of total eclipse, called totality, will occur from 7:08 a.m. to 7:10 a.m. EDT.

NASA coverage will feature views from telescopes and a live educational show during the eclipse. Solar scientists will be available for interviews.

An eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun. When the moon’s shadow falls on Earth, observers within that shadow see the moon block a portion of the sun’s light.

The eclipse coverage is part of the Sun-Earth Day celebration. This is an annual event that strives to share the ways in which the sun interacts with Earth and the other planets in our solar system.

For information about NASA TV and Web coverage, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/eclipse

To arrange interviews, media representatives should contact Laura Motel at 1-301-286-0918.