.: Solar Eclipse Info :.
From
Raven@VERT/MICKYBAY to
All on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 11:15:00
Hi ALL,
Just some info on the Solar Eclipse on the 20th March 2015
Hope its helpful...
On 20 March 2015, the last total Solar Eclipse for over a decade (in Europe) will be visible from a few remote parts of the Earth. This time, although parts of Africa, Asia and Northern Europe will have a partial glimpse, it’s the turn of the Northern Atlantic to bask in over two minutes of daytime darkness.
The path of totality is from just below the Greenland peninsula, heading north into the Arctic Circle, a course that takes it across the Norwegian island of Svalbard and also the Faero Islands, for a full 2 minutes 9 seconds of total solar eclipse.
For the majority of eclipse hunters who don’t live in this remote area of the world, the inconvenient alignment of the Sun and the Moon might appear to make chasing this event seem futile. Fortunately, there is an eclipse cruise from Newcastle in the UK that will take you to the Faroe Islands in time to witness the full Moon crossing the Sun as it happens (check out eclipseofthecentury.com or call (+44) 20 7766 5237 for more information).
A total eclipse of the Sun can happen on Earth because, although the Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, it’s also around 400 times closer to the Earth, so its disc can completely fill the disc of the Sun and cause a total solar eclipse. However, the Moon is currently moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.8 centimetres a year, which means that around 563 million years from now, the Earth will experience its final total solar eclipse as the angular size of the Moon becomes too small to cover the solar disc.
-=- Further info -=-
On March 20, 2015 – the same date as the equinox – the moon turns new only 14 hours after reaching lunar perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its orbit. Thus this moon is a supermoon – a new supermoon, not visible in our sky, but having a larger-than-average effect on Earth’s oceans. Plus this new supermoon swings right in front of the sun so that the moon’s shadow falls on parts of Earth. From high northern latitudes (near Greenland and Iceland), there is a total eclipse of the sun. A much larger swath of the world gets to see varying degrees of a partial solar eclipse (Greenland, Iceland, Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and northwestern Asia).
What is a supermoon?
Remember to use proper eye protection if you want to observe this eclipse. The photo at the top of this post – by Flickr user David – shows how to safely watch a partial solar eclipse by the projection method.
Total eclipse times from land on March 20, 2015
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Partial solar eclipse begins: 8:39 a.m. Western European Time (WET)
Total solar eclipse begins: 9:41 a.m. WET
Maximum eclipse: 9:42 a.m. WET
Total solar eclipse ends: 9:43 a.m. WET
Partial solar eclipse ends: 10:48 a.m. WET
Partial solar eclipse begins: 10:12 a.m. Central European Time (CET)
Total solar eclipse begins: 11:11 a.m. CET
Maximum eclipse: 11:12 a.m. CET
Total solar eclipse ends: 11:13 a.m. CET
Partial solar eclipse ends: 12:12 a.m. CET
Source: TimeandDate.com
You can obtain specific information on the partial eclipse in your part of the world at the following sites listed below. Most of these pages give the eclipse times in Universal Time, meaning you must convert Universal Time into your time. Below these links we list the local times of the partial solar eclipse for chosen localities in the eclipse zone.
TimeandDate.com – gives eclipse times in local time
HM Nautical Almanac – eclipse animations for 534 localities
Interactive Google map – information is just a click away
Solar eclipse computer – courtesy of the US Naval observatory
Partial solar eclipse in local time
Reykjavik, Iceland
Solar eclipse begins: 8:38 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Greatest eclipse: 9:37 a.m. GMT
Solar eclipse ends: 10:39 a.m. GMT
Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 98%
London, England
Solar eclipse begins: 8:25 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Greatest eclipse: 9:31 a.m. GMT
Solar eclipse ends: 10:41 a.m. GMT
Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 53%
Algiers, Algeria
Solar eclipse begins: 9:06 a.m. Central European Time (CET)
Greatest eclipse: 10:11 a.m. CET
Solar eclipse ends: 11:20 a.m. CET
Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 53%
Istanbul, Turkey
Solar eclipse begins: 10:53 p.m. Eastern European Time (EET)
Greatest eclipse: 11:57 a.m. EET
Solar eclipse ends: 1:02 p.m. EET
Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 32%
Moscow, Russia
Solar eclipse begins: 12:13 p.m. Moscow Standard Time (MST)
Greatest eclipse: 1:20 p.m. MST
Solar eclipse ends: 2:27 p.m. MST
Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 58%
TimeandDate.com – gives eclipse times in local time
HM Nautical Almanac – eclipse animations for 534 localities
Interactive Google map – information is just a click away
Solar eclipse computer – courtesy of the US Naval observatory
What causes a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse happens whenever the new moon passes in front of the sun, and the moon’s shadow falls on our planet. A solar eclipse is only possible at new moon because that’s the only time whereby the moon to go in front of the sun, as seen from Earth. Most of the time, however, the new moon either swings north or south of the solar disk, so no eclipse of the sun takes place.
The plane of the moon’s orbit around Earth is inclined at 5o to the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. For half the month, the moon orbits Earth to the north of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane); and for the other half of the month, the moon orbits Earth to the south of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane). Twice a month, however, the moon crosses the Earth’s orbital plane at points called nodes. If the moon is traveling from north to south, it’s called a descending node, and when it’s going from south to north, it’s called an ascending node.
When a new moon happens while the moon is appreciably close to one of its nodes, a solar eclipse is not only possible – but inevitable. It’s not a perfect alignment, though, as the moon reaches its descending node about 17 hours after the moon turns new. However, the new moon happens close enough to its node for the moon’s dark umbral shadow to clip the northern reaches of the globe and for a total solar eclipse to take place at along a semi-circle path at far-northerly latitudes.
Bottom line: On March 20, 2015 the larger-than-average new supermoon swings right in front of the sun to totally block out the solar disk. Although you have to be at the just right spot on Earth to witness this total eclipse of the sun (Faroe Islands and the Svalbard archipelago), a much larger swath of the world gets to see varying degrees of a partial solar eclipse (Greenland, Iceland, Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and northwestern Asia). Remember to use proper eye protection!
RaVeN... (Mickybay.com)
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