General Information About the Solar Eclipse

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

General Information About the Solar Eclipse General Information about the Solar Eclipse What is a solar eclipse? A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, with the moon’s disk covering the face of the sun. That Earth experiences eclipses at all is actually kind of a cosmic coincidence: Though the diameter of the sun is about 400 times greater than the moon’s, they appear as the same relative size in our sky because the sun is so far away. When the moon passes between Earth and the sun, it blocks its light while exposing the corona (the sun’s atmosphere). If the moon were smaller, or if the sun was closer to Earth, the moon’s disk wouldn’t cover the sun completely, and we would never experience solar eclipses. Solar eclipses happen at the new moon phase because that is when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align. The elliptical path of the moon around the Earth intersects the Earth’s elliptical path around the sun twice each lunar month because their orbits are titled 5º from each other instead of being in the exact same plane. The intersecting points of the Earth and moon’s elliptical paths are called lunar nodes. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun at a lunar node, blocking the sun’s light from hitting Earth. During a total solar eclipse, the sky darkens and the air gets colder by about 10ºF(5.5ºC). A solar eclipse is not the same as the much more common lunar eclipse, which happens when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking sunlight from reaching the moon. • A total solar eclipse happens when the orbital paths of the sun and the moon care aligned, so the moon completely covers the sun’s disk. The umbra hits Earth directly, and sky-gazers can see the sun’s corona radiating from behind the moon. This is the type of eclipse happening Aug. 21. What time will the solar eclipse be on Aug. 21? The eclipse will begin in the western US and move east. The partial eclipse will kick off at 9:05 am PDT in Oregon, which will experience the total eclipse at 10:16 am PDT. South Carolina will be last, with the viewing window for the total eclipse ending at 2:44 pm EDT. The eclipse will be viewable in any given location for about 3 minutes, and it will cross the country in about an hour and a half. How do I safely watch the solar eclipse? Sky-gazers should be very cautious—looking directly at the sun can permanently damage your eyes. According to NASA, looking directly at the sun during an eclipse is never safe unless during the brief total eclipse, when the moon’s disk blocks the sun’s entirely (this only occurs within the path of totality, and only for a few minutes). Otherwise, you should be using proper safety viewers for any kind of eclipse viewing. A safe way to watch the partial solar eclipse is with special “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar filters (you can also make a homemade pinhole projector as an alternative method). Regular sunglasses, unfiltered cameras, or homemade filters are not safe and shouldn’t be used. Eclipse glasses must meet some basic criteria to be considered safe: You should put your glasses on before looking at the eclipse and remove them after you’ve completely turned away. What happens if you look at a solar eclipse? If you look directly at solar eclipse without proper safety glasses, your eyes are exposed to huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation and you could experience photo keratitis, which is like sunburn in the eyes. It is incredibly uncomfortable and makes sufferers extremely sensitive to light. Staring directly at an eclipse can also cause solar retinopathy, in which excessive light hits your retina and causes permanent damage to rod and cone cells. Looking directly at the sun, even for a few seconds, can burn your retina and lead to partial or total blindness. .
Recommended publications
  • Occdhtlm3newstelter
    OccdhtlM3Newstelter Volume II, Number 10 january, 1981 Occultation Newsletter is published by the International Occultation Timing Association. Editor and Compositor: H. F. DaBo11; 6 N 106 White Oak Lane; St. Charles, IL 60174; U.S.A. Please send editorial matters to the above, but send address changes, requests, matters of circulation, and other IOTA business to IOTA; P.0. Box 596; Tinley Park; IL 60477; U.S.A. NOTICE TO LUNAR OCCULTATION OBSERVERS paho1. by contacting Sr. Francisco Diego Q., Ixpan- tenco 26-bis, Real dc Ids Reyes, Coyoacdn, Mexico, L. V. Morrison D.F., Mexico. Currently, however, the Latin American Section is experiencing problems with funding, and On 1981 January 1 the international centre for the for the time being, it may be necessary for would-be receipt of timings of occultations of stars by the IOTA/LAS members to subscribe to the English-lan- Moon will be transferred from HM Nautical Almanac guage edition of o.n., or to join the parent IOTA. Office, Royal Greenwich Observatory, England to As- tronomical Division, Hydrographic Department, Japan IOTA NEWS "' From that date observers should send their lunar oc- cultation reports and any correspondence connected David W. Dunham with lunar occultations to the following address: As of 1981 January 1, H. M. Nautical Almanac Office, Astronomical Division at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, England, will Hydrographic Department discontinue collecting observations of lunar occul- Tsukiji-5 tations. After that date, observers should send Chuo-ku, Tokyo their reports to the new International Occultation 104 JAPAN Centre in japan, as described in this issue's lead article.
    [Show full text]
  • Glossary of Marine Navigation 798
    GLOSSARY OF MARINE NAVIGATION 798 The main cause, however, appears to be the winds which prevail from south through west to northwest over 50 percent of the time throughout the year and the transverse flows from the English coast toward the Skaggerak. The current retains the characteristics of a J major nontidal current and flows northeastward along the northwest coast of Denmark at speeds ranging between 1.5 to 2.0 knots 75 to 100 percent of the time. Jacob’s staff. See CROSS-STAFF. jamming, n. Intentional transmission or re-radiation of radio signals in such a way as to interfere with reception of desired signals by the K intended receiver. Janus configuration. A term describing orientations of the beams of acoustic or electromagnetic energy employed with doppler naviga- Kaléma, n. A very heavy surf breaking on the Guinea coast during the tion systems. The Janus configuration normally used with doppler winter, even when there is no wind. sonar speed logs, navigators, and docking aids employs four beams Kalman filtering. A statistical method for estimating the parameters of a of ultrasonic energy, displaced laterally 90° from each other, and dynamic system, using recursive techniques of estimation, mea- each directed obliquely (30° from the vertical) from the ship’s bot- surement, weighting, and correction. Weighting is based on vari- tom, to obtain true ground speed in the fore and aft and athwartship ances of the measurements and of the estimates. The filter acts to directions. These speeds are measured as doppler frequency shifts reduce the variance of the estimate with each measurement cycle.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Nodes Keys to Emotions and Life Experience
    Lunar Nodes Keys To Emotions and Life Experience Diane Ronngren Copyright 2012 ETC Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author and publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles. ETC Publishing www.etcpublishing.com ISBN 978 -1-930038-55-4 Cover design and graphics by Gary Dunham Dedication To my mother, Norma, who gave me life, taught me the values inherent in my South Node in Libra and inspired me to pursue the possibilities of my North Node in Aries. To Family, who have always encouraged my life journey. Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................7 Chapter 1 - Symbols of Destiny ........................................................ 9 Chapter 2 - Node Basics .................................................................. 20 Chapter 3 - Lunar Nodes, Signs and Houses .................................. 26 Aries North Node / Libra South Node ....................................... 26 1st House North Node / 7th House South Node Taurus North Node / Scorpio South Node ................................. 29 2nd House North Node / 8th House South Node Gemini North Node / Sagittarius South Node ........................... 33 3rd House North Node / 9th House South Node Cancer North Node / Capricorn South Node ............................. 36 4th House North Node / 10th House South Node Leo North Node / Aquarius South Node .................................... 39 5th House North Node / 11th House South Node Virgo North Node / Pisces South Node ..................................... 42 6th House North Node / 12th House South Node Libra North Node / Aries South Node ....................................... 45 7th House North Node / 1st House South Node Scorpio North Node / Taurus South Node ................................
    [Show full text]
  • Looking at Eclipses from Both Sides
    Firefox https://cdn.mc-weblink.sg-mktg.com/weblink/MTYyMzAzOTc5N3xKe... Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Looking at Eclipses from Both Sides by Zane B Stein If you have looked at eclipses astrologically you may have noticed a strange fact: the time that astronomers list for the time of maximum eclipse is usually different than the one your astrology program gives you, and sometimes the difference can be quite a few minutes. Why is that? We can give you a clear explanation, and then we can show you how you can adjust a setting (in both Solar Fire, and Astro Gold for Mac), so that you can calculate the charts for the times of both the astrological and the astronomical eclipses. 1 of 4 6/7/2021, 11:18 AM Firefox https://cdn.mc-weblink.sg-mktg.com/weblink/MTYyMzAzOTc5N3xKe... Let’s begin by comparing the eclipse definitions. Astronomical Definition: According to NASA, "An eclipse occurs when one heavenly body such as a moon or planet moves into the shadow of another heavenly body." During a Lunar Eclipse, the “Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon, Earth blocks the sunlight instead of light hitting the Moon's surface, and Earth's shadow falls on the Moon," but if it is a Solar Eclipse, “the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, the Moon blocks the light of the Sun instead of light hitting the Earth's surface, and the Moon's shadow falls on the Earth.” Astrological Definition: When the Sun and Moon are at the exact same degree, minute and second of a sign (New Moon) or opposite signs (Full Moon), AND the lunation occurs not far from the North or South Lunar Nodes, you have, respectfully, a Solar or Lunar Eclipse.
    [Show full text]
  • Cislunar Tether Transport System
    FINAL REPORT on NIAC Phase I Contract 07600-011 with NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, Universities Space Research Association CISLUNAR TETHER TRANSPORT SYSTEM Report submitted by: TETHERS UNLIMITED, INC. 8114 Pebble Ct., Clinton WA 98236-9240 Phone: (206) 306-0400 Fax: -0537 email: [email protected] www.tethers.com Report dated: May 30, 1999 Period of Performance: November 1, 1998 to April 30, 1999 PROJECT SUMMARY PHASE I CONTRACT NUMBER NIAC-07600-011 TITLE OF PROJECT CISLUNAR TETHER TRANSPORT SYSTEM NAME AND ADDRESS OF PERFORMING ORGANIZATION (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip Tethers Unlimited, Inc. 8114 Pebble Ct., Clinton WA 98236-9240 [email protected] PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR Robert P. Hoyt, Ph.D. ABSTRACT The Phase I effort developed a design for a space systems architecture for repeatedly transporting payloads between low Earth orbit and the surface of the moon without significant use of propellant. This architecture consists of one rotating tether in elliptical, equatorial Earth orbit and a second rotating tether in a circular low lunar orbit. The Earth-orbit tether picks up a payload from a circular low Earth orbit and tosses it into a minimal-energy lunar transfer orbit. When the payload arrives at the Moon, the lunar tether catches it and deposits it on the surface of the Moon. Simultaneously, the lunar tether picks up a lunar payload to be sent down to the Earth orbit tether. By transporting equal masses to and from the Moon, the orbital energy and momentum of the system can be conserved, eliminating the need for transfer propellant. Using currently available high-strength tether materials, this system could be built with a total mass of less than 28 times the mass of the payloads it can transport.
    [Show full text]
  • 8.G on the Originality of Indian Mathematical Astronomy
    8.g On the originality of Indian Mathematical Astronomy Raymond Mercier1 Introduction Indian astronomy has been the object of intense study by Western scholars since the seventeenth century, before that by generations of Arabic scholars, and of course by Indian scholars themselves over the centuries. Nevertheless we continue to have disputes about the very nature of the subject, illustrating the fact, I suppose, that Indian astronomy is never quite what it seems to be. In the past 35 years, there has been a particularly acrimonious dispute centred on the researches of Roger Billard and David Pingree, both now deceased. I will try to cover what seem to me to be the salient aspects of the matter. Method of Deviations Roger Billard in 1971 wrote his L’Astronomie indienne, at a time when Pingree’s researches were in full spate. Billard’s approach was essentially a refinement of what people have always done when approaching ancient or medieval astronomical texts, that is to carry out a comparison with the calculations made by means of modern astronomical parameters, as a ‘reality check’ in general, and by way of dating in particular. For example Neugebauer & van Hoesen published a collection of horoscopes from Greek literary and epigraphical sources, all of which were dated by means of 2 calculations from modern formulae. Billard’s results depended on plotting the ‘deviation curves’, that is the graph of the ancient mean longitude minus the modern, as a function of time. This was then subjected to a precise statistical analysis, mainly to fix the date of the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Moon-Earth-Sun: the Oldest Three-Body Problem
    Moon-Earth-Sun: The oldest three-body problem Martin C. Gutzwiller IBM Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 The daily motion of the Moon through the sky has many unusual features that a careful observer can discover without the help of instruments. The three different frequencies for the three degrees of freedom have been known very accurately for 3000 years, and the geometric explanation of the Greek astronomers was basically correct. Whereas Kepler’s laws are sufficient for describing the motion of the planets around the Sun, even the most obvious facts about the lunar motion cannot be understood without the gravitational attraction of both the Earth and the Sun. Newton discussed this problem at great length, and with mixed success; it was the only testing ground for his Universal Gravitation. This background for today’s many-body theory is discussed in some detail because all the guiding principles for our understanding can be traced to the earliest developments of astronomy. They are the oldest results of scientific inquiry, and they were the first ones to be confirmed by the great physicist-mathematicians of the 18th century. By a variety of methods, Laplace was able to claim complete agreement of celestial mechanics with the astronomical observations. Lagrange initiated a new trend wherein the mathematical problems of mechanics could all be solved by the same uniform process; canonical transformations eventually won the field. They were used for the first time on a large scale by Delaunay to find the ultimate solution of the lunar problem by perturbing the solution of the two-body Earth-Moon problem.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Motion Motion A
    2 Lunar V. Lunar Motion Motion A. The Lunar Calendar Dr. Bill Pezzaglia B. Motion of Moon Updated 2012Oct30 C. Eclipses 3 1. Phases of Moon 4 A. The Lunar Calendar 1) Phases of the Moon 2) The Lunar Month 3) Calendars based on Moon b). Elongation Angle 5 b.2 Elongation Angle & Phase 6 Angle between moon and sun (measured eastward along ecliptic) Elongation Phase Configuration 0º New Conjunction 90º 1st Quarter Quadrature 180º Full Opposition 270º 3rd Quarter Quadrature 1 b.3 Elongation Angle & Phase 7 8 c). Aristarchus 275 BC Measures the elongation angle to be 87º when the moon is at first quarter. Using geometry he determines the sun is 19x further away than the moon. [Actually its 400x further !!] 9 Babylonians (3000 BC) note phases are 7 days apart 10 2. The Lunar Month They invent the 7 day “week” Start week on a) The “Week” “moon day” (Monday!) New Moon First Quarter b) Synodic Month (29.5 days) Time 0 Time 1 week c) Spring and Neap Tides Full Moon Third Quarter New Moon Time 2 weeks Time 3 weeks Time 4 weeks 11 b). Stone Circles 12 b). Synodic Month Stone circles often have 29 stones + 1 xtra one Full Moon to Full Moon off to side. Originally there were 30 “sarson The cycle of stone” in the outer ring of Stonehenge the Moon’s phases takes 29.53 days, or ~4 weeks Babylonians measure some months have 29 days (hollow), some have 30 (full). 2 13 c1). Tidal Forces 14 c). Tides This animation illustrates the origin of tidal forces.
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 1: Introduction to Ocean Tides
    Lecture 1: Introduction to ocean tides Myrl Hendershott 1 Introduction The phenomenon of oceanic tides has been observed and studied by humanity for centuries. Success in localized tidal prediction and in the general understanding of tidal propagation in ocean basins led to the belief that this was a well understood phenomenon and no longer of interest for scientific investigation. However, recent decades have seen a renewal of interest for this subject by the scientific community. The goal is now to understand the dissipation of tidal energy in the ocean. Research done in the seventies suggested that rather than being mostly dissipated on continental shelves and shallow seas, tidal energy could excite far traveling internal waves in the ocean. Through interaction with oceanic currents, topographic features or with other waves, these could transfer energy to smaller scales and contribute to oceanic mixing. This has been suggested as a possible driving mechanism for the thermohaline circulation. This first lecture is introductory and its aim is to review the tidal generating mechanisms and to arrive at a mathematical expression for the tide generating potential. 2 Tide Generating Forces Tidal oscillations are the response of the ocean and the Earth to the gravitational pull of celestial bodies other than the Earth. Because of their movement relative to the Earth, this gravitational pull changes in time, and because of the finite size of the Earth, it also varies in space over its surface. Fortunately for local tidal prediction, the temporal response of the ocean is very linear, allowing tidal records to be interpreted as the superposition of periodic components with frequencies associated with the movements of the celestial bodies exerting the force.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Eclipses 2021: the Definitive Photography Guide
    Lunar Eclipses 2021: The Definitive Photography Guide www.photopills.com Feel free to share this eBook © PhotoPills January 2021 2 Never Stop Learning The Definitive Guide to Shoo- ting Hypnotic Star Trails How To Shoot Truly Conta- gious Milky Way Pictures Understanding Golden Hour, Blue Hour and Twilights 7 Tips to Make the Next Su- permoon Shine in Your Pho- tos MORE TUTORIALS AT PHOTOPILLS.COM/ACADEMY Understanding How To Plan the Azimuth and Milky Way Using Elevation The Augmented Reality How to find moon- How To Plan The rises and moon- Next Full Moon sets PhotoPills Awards Get your photos featured and win $6,600 in cash prizes Learn more+ Join PhotoPillers from around the world for a 7 fun-filled days of learning and adventure in the island of light! Learn More A total lunar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon by which the Sun, the Earth and the Moon align. The Earth interposes between the Sun and the Moon, covering the latter with its shadow. I was hypnotized the first time I saw a Moon eclipse. So much that now I spend my spare time checking PhotoPills to find out when the next one will happen... After seeing a lunar eclipse, living it and photographing it... you will also fall in its spell. It's impossible not to do so. Surrounded by stars, the color of the Moon during totality is something extremely surpris- ing. Something you should see with naked eyes and capture with your camera... at least once in your life. This guide will help you capture any photo you imagine of any Moon eclipse that you can think of.
    [Show full text]
  • Foreseechange Pty Ltd Acn 094 521 614
    foreseechange forecasting and futures consultants foreseechange pty ltd acn 094 521 614 11 August 2009 Supplementary Submission No. 23-1 to the House of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee enquiry into long-term meteorological forecasting in Australia: Supplementary Submission This supplementary submission documents the additional research undertaken since the original submission on 22 April 2009. In my original submission, I documented my finding that rainfall in Melbourne and the Murray Darling Basin is quite strongly influenced by the 18.6 year lunar node cycle. Discussions I have had with researchers since then indicate that this not a factor which has been or is being considered as a driver of rainfall cycles – despite my finding that this is a major driver and that it is predictable with a high degree of accuracy long into the future. Since my original submission, I have now quantified the impact of another major influence on rainfall in Melbourne and the Murray Darling Basin. This is the Indian Ocean dipole and this submission extends the previous document to include the results of this analysis. This is a factor which explains large annual variations in rainfall. It is only a partial explanation of the intensification of the drought since 2005 and so the search for another factor must continue. The lunar node cycle forces decadal variations in rainfall while the Indian Ocean dipole influences annual rainfall variations. Understanding the combined effect of these two factors (and others) opens up the potential for both improved seasonal rainfall forecasting and longer-term rainfall forecasting. I have also edited some of the previous charts to better reflect the impact of the lunar node cycle.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Analysis of Megalithic Lunar Sightlines in Scotland”, Archaeoastronomy, Supplement of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, 1980, 2: 65–77
    COMMENTARY A Commentary on L. V. Morrison, “On the Analysis of Megalithic Lunar Sightlines in Scotland”, Archaeoastronomy, Supplement of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, 1980, 2: 65–77 Lionel Sims University of East London [email protected] This densely written 13-page paper by a past astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observa- tory was published in 1980 in response to a claim made two years earlier by Alexander and Archie Thom that 25 Scottish megalithic sightlines mark the extreme horizon points of moonrise and moonset around 1700 BC. Besides correcting an error in the Thoms’ calcula- tions carried over from their textual source on celestial mechanics, Morrison elaborated the formula of lunar motion to include other sources of variation not covered by the Thoms. Morrison claimed that with these enhanced formulae the extreme declinations of the Moon can be calculated and observed to an accuracy of 1' of arc. Morrison shows that the Thoms use of a simplified lunar theory requires that the plane of the lunar orbit with respect to the ecliptic be exactly at its limits, that the Moon be at 90° to the Sun (quad- rature) when the Sun is simultaneously at the autumn or vernal equinoxes, and that the extreme declination of the Moon occur exactly at the moment of moonrise or moonset. Refreshingly, he then points out that these conditions never occur simultaneously and that a series of adjustments must be made to calculate the resulting average reductions in declination which will result in an observable horizon azimuth extreme. But since for each individual lunar standstill the particular configuration of deviations from these required conditions is unique, every lunar standstill will be slightly but observably different from every other lunar standstill.
    [Show full text]