Tahiti expects thousands of visitors for eclipse.
Members from the French High Commissioner's office and from the French Polynesian government met in May in Papeete to talk about the July 11 total solar eclipse in the eastern Tuamotu atolls, the only places in French Polynesia where a total solar eclipse can be viewed.
The moon's umbral shadow will take 2 hours 40 minutes to travel some 11,100 km (6,897 miles) along a path covering 0.48 percent of the Earth's surface, according to online National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) information.
Tahiti's tourism industry is now expected to welcome 5,500 visitors, known as eclipse chasers, who will be arriving from throughout the world to spend over four minutes watching the sun, moon and earth become perfectly aligned as daylight turns to darkness on earth.
Some will be headed for family pensions and other accommodations in the eastern Tuamotu atolls.
The French High Commission office in Papeete, the French Polynesia Tourism Ministry, the Groupement d'Intérêt Economique (GIE) Tahiti Tourisme promotion organization and local town halls in the outer islands are all working together on this project and the domestic airline Air Tahiti has programmed several charter flights to the atolls of Hao, Hikueru, Anaa and Tatakoto.
The island of Tahiti's southern coastline "lies a tantalizing 20 km (12 miles) north of the eclipse path" and will experience a 0.996 magnitude partial eclipse at 18:28 UT", according to NASA.
A GIE Tahiti Tourisme press kit reports that the island of Tahiti will be a nearly perfect place to watch the morning event, offering a 99.1 percent eclipse.
Source: Pacific Islands Report
mg05