solar eclipse of July 22 2009 The Longest Total Eclipse of the 21st Century

The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting as much as 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some places. The eclipse was part of saros series 136, like the recordsetting solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027. The exceptional duration was a result of the moon being near perigee, with the apparent diameter of the moon 8 larger than the sun (magnitude 1. 080) and the Earth being near aphelion where the sun ap