Eclipses | Universe Today

Eclipse from Chongqing Municipality (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

The total solar eclipse which just occurred on the 22nd of July 2009 was the longest maximum duration of the 21st century. Not since Saros 1991 have astronomers and eclipse chasers been treat to such an event! Totality lasted over six and a half minutes at maximum. duration. The event started in India along the western shore near Surat moved towards Butan and reached the southern tip of Nepal and the northern edge of Bangladesh.

For other lucky astronomers like Vietnamese student Dang Anh Tuan at Hanoi National University of Education, the eclipse path also took the event over cities like Chengdu, Suining, Chonging, Wuhan, Xiaogan, Hangzhou, and Shanghai – and event which yielded five minutes of totality. Leaving Shanghai the shadow path raced across the ocean, to fall across islands such as Toshima and Akusaki south of Japan and eventually the Marshall islands. Where was the longest point? The maximum eclipse duration of 6 minutes and 43 seconds occurs far off the coast in the Pacific Ocean! Are you ready to become an eclipse chaser? Then follow me… Read more…

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Want to know about the atmospheres of planets around other stars, and the stars themselves?

Start at home.

A pair of papers in this week's issue of Nature is advocating continued studies of both lunar eclipses, when the Moon transits Earth's shadow, and solar eclipses — when the Moon comes directly between Earth and the sun.

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Here's something you don't see everyday. In fact, this is the first time this has ever been seen. On Feb. 10 Japan's Kaguya spacecraft in orbit around the moon successfully took an image of a penumbral lunar eclipse. That's the Earth passing in front of the sun, as seen from the Moon. From the Moon! The image was taken just at the moment when the Earth covered up most of the sun, creating a diamond ring effect. If we're lucky on Earth, we can see this effect in a solar eclipse, when the Moon blocks the Sun as seen from Earth. Here, Earth’s atmosphere is lit up by the sun, creating the ring and just enough sunlight is sneaking by on one side of the Earth, creating the diamond. Sensational! Plus, there's a movie of the eclipse, too!

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An annular solar eclipse earlier today was visible in South-East Asia, southern Africa and Australia. Thanks to M.R. Taufik from Bontang, Indonesia for sharing this image of a complete ring or annulus of light from the sun peeking out from around the moon. Because the moon's orbit is elliptical, its distance from Earth–and its apparent size—varies. Annular eclipses happen when the moon looks too small to completely cover the sun. Such an event that occurs about 66 times a century.
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If you read this week's SkyWatcher's Forecast, then you knew several areas of the world were in for a partial lunar eclipse event. While the Moon basically just did a glancing pass through the umbral shadow, the effect was still dramatic and I was hoping that at least one photographer out there would have a picture and story to share! Read more…

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A solar eclipse at totality (NASA/F. Espenak)

If you've ever wanted to see a solar eclipse, this might be the time to do it. It is a very rare chance to see an eclipse at totality because the Moon's shadow is so small and, more often than not, it falls on sparsely populated regions of the planet. Often eclipse hunters are resigned to planning expensive trips to these locations, sometimes only to be disappointed by poor weather. But there's an answer. This Friday's eclipse will swing over Canada, the tip of Greenland, parts of Russia, China and Mongolia, including the Gobi desert, although nothing can replace actually travelling to one of these locations to witness this celestial event, NASA will transmit the eclipse live over the Internet. Excellent, now we can do some eclipse-chasing without leaving our armchairs…
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It's likely that sometime in your education career, an English teacher had you enjoy (or suffer through, depending on your tastes) at least part of that classic of classics, Homer's Odyssey. It tells the story of Odysseus, a Greek general, who embarks on a 10-year journey back home after battling in the fall of Troy. The tale is filled with imagery that is referenced often in contemporary films and books. As old as it is, one would think that we've learned pretty much all we can from the book, but a new analysis of celestial events referenced in the Odyssey reveals that Homer may have documented a total solar eclipse.

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Something strange happens during a solar eclipse. As the Moon's shadow passes over the surface of the Earth, observers have noticed mysterious bands of shadow ripple ahead and behind the eclipse. It seemed possible that these bands were a result of constructive and destructive interference of sunlight around the limb of the Moon (an effect known as diffraction), or atmospheric turbulence may have had a part to play. However, a new theory has come to light. As the Moon's shadow travels across the Earth's surface, it may be possible that the shadow cools the atmosphere suddenly, creating a pressure difference. This gives rise to a sonic phenomenon: a shock front. This may refract the path of light from the lunar limb and through the atmosphere, creating the bands of light and dark. The solar eclipse may be a sonic phenomenon as well as an optical one…
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Like I said, you buried me with photos of last week's total lunar eclipse. So here's another batch. Thanks to everyone who went outside and remembered to bring a camera.

If you're a budding (or veteran) astrophotographer, I highly recommend you check out the Bad Astronomy/Universe Today forum. We have a section just for people to post their astrophotos.

This first photograph comes from Joe from Michigan State University with a digital camera and a 4" telescope.
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I asked and you delivered. Here is just a fraction of the eclipse photos Universe Today readers sent in. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Up first, here's a mosaic of six images of the Moon captured by Thomas Jacobs using a 4.5" reflector from Woodstock, Georgia in the US. The photos were captured through a pretty heavy cloud cover.
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How was your view of this week's lunar eclipse? The skies actually opened up here in Vancouver, and we were able to see good portions of the eclipse. The kids were really excited, and got to stay up late watching the eclipse – it was all they were talking about the next day.

So send me your pictures of the eclipse, and I'll run a quick gallery. Email them to me at info@universetoday.com, and I'll try to post them in the next few days.

And to tide you over, here's an image captured by ESA astronomers from Spain.

Post your eclipse stories in the comments below.

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By the end of August, you might be just cooling down from the excitement of the Perseid meteor show, but it's time to gather the friends and family again for another fantastic sky show – a total lunar eclipse on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007. This is going to be one of most popular, visible from 5 continents, including most of North America. Got that, set your calendar right now.
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I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but I wanted to give you all another reminder that there's going to be a total lunar eclipse on March 3, 2007.
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Skywatchers in Eastern North America, Europe, Africa and parts of Asia are about the be treated to one of the most beautiful events in the night sky: a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse gets underway on Saturday, March 3, 2007, and will last about 6 hours from start to finish.
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Well, how did it go? Did you get a chance to see the eclipse from your part of the world? Did you share it with your friends and family, and maybe build a little astronomy enthusiasm in your loved ones? One eye on the sky and one eye on the game? Come to the forum and share your experiences from last night. I'll let you know how my night went. If you got pictures from last night, join the forum and post your photos into the Astrophotography forum and enjoy the "ooohs and ahhhs" from jealous rained out (or geographically challenged) forum members from around the world. Next eclipse is in 2007.

Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today

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