Eclipses are rare enough events that for centuries they were treated with great superstition. Just ask Christopher Columbus, who used his knowledge of an impending eclipse to extract from the rather uncooperative Jamaican natives a full complement of supplies and help in getting his ships operational. As astronomical knowledge progressed, eclipses turned from omens of doom to curiosities that bring out the amateur astronomer in everyone.

On this day. July 22, 2009, the longest eclipse in the 21st century brought a shadow that lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds by the time it reached Southeast Asia. Thousands of tourists braved monsoon rains to travel to Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, China, one of the best spots to view the phenomenon according to country’s National Astronomical Observatory.

Television cameras in India were set in place well before the event to record the thousands of Hindus dipping themselves in the sacred Ganges river, in keeping with their tradition of bathing in the river at Varanasi, especially on special occasions, to cleanses one’s sins (some elements of superstition still remain). Nearby Bangladesh had thousand come out to see the event. While the eclipse bypassed North America, The University of North Dakota sent an expedition to webcast the event live from China.