Foreigners visiting Myanmar have arrived at a number of the most ideal locations in the country to take up position to watch the millennium's longest solar eclipse taking place on Friday (Jan. 15).

These locations are selected as Ngapali, Bagan, Popa, Mandalay Hill, Sagaing Hill and Monywa, and hotels in these areas have been packed with foreign travelers.

The annular solar eclipse with the longest duration of 11 minutes and 8 seconds in the 21st century will be obviously visible in Sittway in the west, Shwebo, Mandalay and Monywa in the central part, and Pyin Oo Lwin and Lashio in the east and northeast as far as Myanmar is concerned.

The astronomical phenomenon will begin in Myanmar at about 1:00 p.m. (Myanmar Standard Time) which will last for 3:30 hours until 4:30 p.m., said Myanmar's Meteorology and Hydrology Department, adding that the eclipse will reach its maximum between 3:05 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.

The Jan. 15 annular solar eclipse will start from central Africa and move across the Indian Ocean, southern India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China.

Astronomers in Myanmar said there will be two solar eclipses in the year 2010 and Myanmar will witness the first event on Jan. 15, while the next on July 1 will not be seen in the country.

Myanmar will only see again such solar eclipse on July 22, 2085, the astronomers added.