Author Topic: Lepaca Draconis Dies  (Read 31884 times)

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Offline Markus

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Lepaca Draconis Dies
« on: March 08, 2006, 12:21:17 pm »
Hi folks,

on March 29 there will be a solar eclipse, visible all over Europe, the greatest part of Africa and a long way into Asia. The Eastern part of South America will see it at sunrise. On a narrow path reaching from the Eastern tip of South America over the South Atlantic, Western and Northern Afrca through the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Turkey well into Asia, the eclipse will be total: Black Sun!

Many authors have described total solar eclipses as the greatest natural events one can witness, and I daresay they're right. The Austrian poet Adalbert Stifter wrote about the eclipse over Austria in 1842: "What is the most terrible thunderstorm, it is a noisy flea market compared to this deadly silent majesty." Only the ignorants can say "It gets dark and then bright again - so what?" That's like describing Therion's "Siren of the Woods" with the words: "Some people make noises", just a hundred times worse.

Impressive as they are, total solar eclipses are rare events, and each is visible from a rather small area only; therefore  they are often hard to reach. This one is rather easy to reach for Europeans because the shadow of the moon will strike tourist areas such as Antalya in Turkey. Thus I will take a short trip to Turkey to view the eclipse from there. :w00t:

But even those of you that live and stay in places where the eclipse is partial, not total: You're not allowed to miss it! You get the chance to view a partial solar eclipse only once every few years on average, so these are rare, too. And they are beautiful in their own right. You will see the moon gliding silently between you and the sun and you will feel that everything is in motion, that you are part of a great cosmic dance. Don't miss that chance! (Or you'll get trouble with me.)

Besides that, a deep partial (76% in Bucharest) will cause changes in your environment. The sun won't burn on your skin as much as it usually does, the colours around you will look paler than usually, the sky will be a deeper blue. The shadows will be unnaturally sharp, and wherever sunlight falls through small holes, small solar crescents will appear on the ground - be it beneath a tree with leaves, through the holes of noodle sieve, a straw hat or anything else. These changes may be subtle, but you will see them if you just open your eyes and look.

But in any case: Never ever look at the sun without proper protection! NEVER!! Its fierce glare would burn your eyes - even if it's partly hidden by the moon. The uneclipsed part of the sun would still burn itself into your retina - a smaller part of your eye gets burnt then, but still it gets burnt. There are several secure ways to watch the sun safely. The easiest may be to invest a couple of bucks in special eclipse-viewing-glasses that should be available at every good opticians' store. If you want to use binocularsm a telescope or a camera protection is even more important, and there are several good methods for that, too.

So in short:

1. Find out whether and when the eclipse is visible from your place.

2. Get yourself those special filters to protect your eyes.

3. Watch the eclipse, and think of me as you do so, wishing me clear skies. :)

This is an order. You may leave now.

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Tzar-0

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« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2006, 12:49:33 pm »
Quote
This is an order. You may leave now.

Yes sire !




mmm for Belgium and for France we should look at the sky at about 11h30-40 for the begining... http://www.cieletespace.fr/Dossiers/Eclipse/RendezVous.aspx  .

Well I know there is no one else here now who comes from Belgium or France anyway.
I didn't find for others countries. But anyway there is a cool pic on that page.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2006, 12:51:48 pm by Tzar-0 »

Offline Markus

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« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2006, 12:59:59 pm »
Ah, right, extra information needed. :)

As usually Fred Espenak at the NASA has set up a complete website for this event, including everything you need to know. Maps, tables, everything. Click "Local Circumstances for <your region here>" to find out when it happens and how deep it gets. You just have to convert the times from UT (GMT) to your local time. There are even photo guides and webcast links there.

If you scroll down on this page on the NASA Eclipse Home Page you'll find articles on eye safety, too.

Cheers!

Markus


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Offline Elizabeth

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« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2006, 01:03:47 pm »
I'm stupid: forgot I was reading the topic and left....and when I came back, Tzar-0 had already replied :D

Oh, well... I'll wish clear skies anyway, Markus (but without the "Yes, Sire") ;)
« Last Edit: March 08, 2006, 01:05:48 pm by Elizabeth »

Thanks Tequila!

I don't trust astrology, because I'm a Gemini and Geminis don't trust astrology. Raymond Smullyan.

Offline Tzar-0

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« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2006, 01:12:09 pm »
Thanks for your informations Markus. The hours are not the same in the website I gave but we should better believe the nasa anyway...

And yes we can just wish you a nice trip and hope for you it will be cloudless. ^_^

Offline Aluqak

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« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2006, 01:20:12 pm »
Bah! nothing to see here in North America :angry:. When I lived in home country I saw three solar eclipses... here... nothing!!!
Canada is definitevily the outerworld :(
Volons, volons, laisse toi porter par ta croyance immortelle, laisse ton désir devenir tes ailes...
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GOT ?

Offline Markus

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« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2006, 01:22:02 pm »
Hi Tzar-O,

indeed there are differences of a few seconds between the times on your site and on the NASA site. That doesn't mean one of them is wrong: Firstly, a city is not just a point but extends to several kilometres even for smaller cities. But the local circumstances are always computed for a single point on Earth. If two sources use slightly different coordinates for a city they will get slightly different results. Secondly there are different methods of calculation, depending on different definitions of some important terms. That can also create differences of a few seconds.

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Elizabeth

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« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2006, 01:22:58 pm »
What were you saying about "wrong side of the world", Aluqak?  :evil:

Thanks Tequila!

I don't trust astrology, because I'm a Gemini and Geminis don't trust astrology. Raymond Smullyan.

Offline Markus

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« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2006, 01:25:53 pm »
Ah, poor Aluqak,

Quote
Bah! nothing to see here in North America :angry:. When I lived in home country I saw three solar eclipses... here... nothing!!!
Canada is definitevily the outerworld :(
[snapback]7487[/snapback]

tough luck this time, it seems. :( But in other years the Americas are preferred. But I'm afraid that the next really good eclipse year for North America will be 2012...

Cheers, anyway!

Markus
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Offline Tzar-0

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« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2006, 01:29:20 pm »
haha no markus  :P

It is just me who's stupid , I didn't take the time to read all your previous post and just went seeing the hours...by the way I was so I didn't even think that it could be GMT hours... :ph34r: ...I know I should hide somewhere for that
« Last Edit: March 08, 2006, 01:30:38 pm by Tzar-0 »

Offline Luth

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« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2006, 03:42:07 pm »
I'm too lazy to study all the site, but I think that I won't see a lot... maybe 40%, I think. Well, maybe later I'll try to read it better. But be sure I'll think in Markus when the eclypse will happen  :ph34r:
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Offline Markus

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« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2006, 03:52:52 pm »
Barcelona: 43% eclipse magnitude, first contact at 9.21 UT, maximum at 10.21, fourth contact at 11.23. That's about as much as I saw last October. Believe me - even if it's far from being total it's worth to have a look. :-)

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Luth

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« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2006, 04:00:05 pm »
Quote
Barcelona: 43% eclipse magnitude, first contact at 9.21 UT, maximum at 10.21, fourth contact at 11.23. That's about as much as I saw last October. Believe me - even if it's far from being total it's worth to have a look. :-)

Cheers!

Markus
[snapback]7495[/snapback]

Thanks thanks  :pop:

I'll try to watch it, then (with appropiate glasses, of course  -_- ).

*cannot wait until the day  :w00t:
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Offline Markus

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« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2006, 04:44:56 pm »
Quote
I'll try to watch it, then (with appropiate glasses, of course  -_- ).
[snapback]7496[/snapback]

 :iconmi77kl:  :iconmi77kl:  :iconmi77kl:

But you have to convert these times from UT to your local time! Dunno what difference you have to UT...

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Luth

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« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2006, 04:55:39 pm »
Quote
:iconmi77kl:  :iconmi77kl:  :iconmi77kl:

But you have to convert these times from UT to your local time! Dunno what difference you have to UT...

Cheers!

Markus
[snapback]7497[/snapback]


What's UT time?  :unsure:
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Offline Tzar-0

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« Reply #15 on: March 08, 2006, 06:47:02 pm »
universal time same as GMT

Offline TheOFFman

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« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2006, 11:23:02 am »
Thx for information wise Markus!

Offline Markus

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« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2006, 11:28:01 am »
You're welcome, OFFman,

I couldn't keep that to myself, anyway. :lol:

You may expect about 60% eclipse magnitude, BTW - that is clearly enough to not e subtle changes in the sky and your surroundings.

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Markus

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« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2006, 11:48:16 am »
Hi folks,

before I forget it: Prepare to watch the Prelude to the Black Sun tonight! There will be a rather weak but interesting lunar eclipse, peaking at 23.47 UT.

More details to come!

Markus
« Last Edit: March 14, 2006, 11:52:04 am by Markus »
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Offline Markus

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« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2006, 01:01:52 pm »
So here we go with the details, folks.

No eclipse comes on its own: Whenever there's a solar eclipse, two weeks before or after it there is a lunar one, and vice versa. So if there's a solar eclipse on March 29, there must be a lunar eclipse in mid-March or mid-April. It's in mid-March - tonight, to be exact.

It's only a penumbral eclipse where the moon enters the penumbra, the outer and lighter part of Earth's shadow without entering the inner and darker umbra. That means there will be no red moon. In fact, some claim such a penumbral eclipse was invisible in any case. Nonsense! You can't see the beginning and the end of the event because the darkening is all too weak there, but you will see the greatest eclipse if you just look.

This pic shows very well what to look for: Before the eclipse you'll see the normal full moon, glaring bright. At mid-eclipse the moon will be darker, less glaring, and there will be a clear difference in brightness between opposing limbs. This time the Southern part of the moon ("downside" in the sky) will be darker.

So take a look at the full moon, say, at 21.00 UT and another look at the eclipsed moon around 23.47 UT. I bet you'll see it, but all the ignorants out there won't. ;)

Need any more details? Fred will tell you all you need to know.

Cheers!

Markus

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