People in Taiwan will be able to see an 86 percent eclipse of the sun Wednesday morning when the the longest total solar eclipse of the century will occur, the Astronomical Observatory said. The event will be visible in many parts of Asia, but the total eclipse will be seen only along a narrow corridor stretching from northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati. The full eclipse will last for 6 minutes 39 seconds. Taiwan, which is located very close to the corridor, will see a partial eclipse starting 8: 22 a.m., with the maximum eclipse expected to appear between 9:36 a.m. and 9:41 a.m., according to the Astronomical Observatory under the Central Weather Bureau. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon's orbit moves between the Earth and the sun so that the sun's disc is fully or partially covered. On Wednesday morning, the sun will be seen in 80 percent eclipse in northern Taiwan, and in 70 percent eclipse in central and southern Taiwan, the officials said. In the country's northern-most territory of Matsu viewers will see an 86.8 eclipse of the sun at 9:36:52 a.m., they added. To mark the spectacular natural event, the Chiayi Amateur Astronomers Association will broadcast it live online from Taiwan and China Wednesday morning. Yeh Shang-ai, a spokesman for the association, said the broadcast will be a cooperation project with various local elementary schools. Lantan Elementary School in Chiayi City will be the main site of the broadcast, while another team will send the live images from Suzhou, one of the Chinese cities located in the path of totality, which will allow viewers to see the total eclipse without having to travel abroad, Yeh said. The broadcast will be available at http: //hichannel.hinet.net/event/2009tse/ and http://map.answerbox.net/2009tse, Yeh said. Also Wednesday morning, the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung City will connect its telescope to a TV monitor to give visitors a closer view of the solar eclipse. For those who wish to watch the phenomenon on their own, the museum is advising that they take proper precautions, such as wearing solar eclipse glasses. 