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Solar eclipse over Japan shared via FleetBroadband

The total eclipse on 22 July which lasted up to 6 minutes 39 seconds across the region – was the longest so far this century – and the first that could be seen from Japan for 46 years.

Inmarsat partner JRC supplied two of its FleetBroadband 250-JUE terminals to Nippon Housou Kyoukai (NHK) Global Media Service.

Umbral shadow

On 20 July a JRC engineer installed the terminals – one as a back-up – on board the Pacific Venus cruise ship which departed Yokohama on the same day.

The cruise liner stayed near Iou Island for the eclipse to be observed in cloudless conditions.

According to Nasa, the total eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor that traversed half of the Earth.

Easy install

The path of the Moon's umbral shadow began in India and crossed through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.

After leaving mainland Asia, the path crossed Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curved southeast through the Pacific Ocean.

The solar eclipse could be seen in Japan from 10.30 local time and NHK's video was broadcast live onto the Yahoo Japan website for everyone to see.