On Friday, there is a Annular Eclipse of the Sun, from 04:05 GMT, with mid eclipse at 07:07 GMT, and ending at 08:59 GMT... yes, that's in the middle of the night for us here in the UK, so unfortunately, we will not be able to see it at all! (and even when the Sun is visible at the end of the eclipse, the Moon is slightly off to one side as seen from the UK)
The eclipse will be visible from Africa and across India, as show in the map below.
Below is an animation I made from a series of photographs taken during the annular eclipse of 2005. The reason it is an annular, and not total, is that the Moon orbits the Earth not in a circle, but in an ellipse. During this eclipse, the Moon is slightly further away than on average, making it appear slightly smaller, and so too small to cover the Sun completely.
More details can be found on the Wikipedia.
If you do happen to be in the path of the eclipse, do not look at it with your eyes, since you will probably be blinded for life. Instead, use solar glasses, a simple and cheap solar telescope, or just use your hands as a pinhole projector!
No comments:
Post a Comment