A PASSIONATE group of eclipse chasers from Singapore are journeying to Wuhan in central China, to view Wednesday's total eclipse over Asia.

The group of 22 comprises members of The Astronomical Society of Singapore and their families and is led by society president Mr Albert Lim who has 'lost count' of the number of eclipses he has witnessed.

'You have the moon biting into the sun, part of the sun becomes dark. When the moon totally covers the sun the entire sky is black.

'You get a 360 degree glowing light around the horizon, like a sunrise, and you can see the sun's corona dancing round the edges of the moon,' Mr Lim colourfully explained.

Leading up to this astronomical event, Mr Lim looks at the path of the moon's shadow across the earth, the weather forecasts and historical cloud coverage in the region and then makes a decision where to follow through with his 'chase'.

Even so, such analysis can still result in disappointment. In 2002 Mr Lim flew to Australia, drove 1,000 miles to Ceduna for a 24 second eclipse only to have it obscured by clouds.

All those on the 10-day trip are prepared for the perils the weather may bring, but will also enjoy trekking in Tibet and high altitude astrophotography - taking pictures of the night sky.

As well as soaking up the atmosphere in the lunar shadow, Mr Lim is hoping to get the 'one in a million' shot of the eclipse sequence.

His shot of last year's eclipse on August 1st, from Jinta, Quiqian the site of China's space program in the Gobi desert was featured on the History Channel.

Wednesday's event will not be as spectacular at this end of the Earth, said Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, chief executive at the Science Centre.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.