Explanation: It was a typical Texas sunset except that most of the Sun was missing. The location of the missing piece of the Sun was not a mystery — it was behind the Moon. Sunday night’s partial eclipse of the Sun by the Moon turned into one of the best photographed astronomical events in history. Gallery after online gallery is posting just oneamazingeclipseimageafteranother. Pictured above is possibly one of the more interesting posted images — a partially eclipsed Sun setting in a reddened sky behind brush and a windmill. The image was taken Sunday night from about 20 miles west of Sundown, Texas, USA, just after the ring of fire effect was broken by the Moon moving away from the center of the Sun. Coming early next month is an astronomical event that holds promise to be even more photographed — the last partial eclipse of the Sun by Venus until the year 2117.
Here are the total and annular solar eclipses in the continental United States according to NASAsince 1900 up to 2059.
A total eclipse crosses the Gulf Beaches from Southern Texas across North Florida and Georgia on March 30, 2052.
On August 12, 2045 a total eclipse crosses from Northern California, through the center of the United States and down through Florida, with area of greatest eclipse near Southern Florida.
On April 8, 2024 a total eclipse crosses from Southern Texas through the heart of the Midwest and exits through Maine, with time of greatest eclipse just before entering Texas.
An annular eclipse of the sun crosses from the Northwestern United States through Southern Texas on April 20, 2023.
On August 21, 2017 a total eclipse enters the Northwestern United States and exits around South Carolina, with time of greatest eclipse between St. Louis and Chicago. This is the one to prepare for.
The centerline for the event passes nearly through the Albuquerque International Airport. Any location in the metro area will provide an excellent view of the eclipse.
The viewing area must be high enough to see Mt. Taylor, which is 60 miles (100 km) west of Albuquerque.
1st contact is at 6:28pm (MDT) when the moon first begins to cover the sun.
2nd contact at 7:33pm (MDT) when the moon is completely within the disk of the sun. The totality of the annular portion of the eclipse is 4 minutes and 26 seconds.
3rd contact at 7:38pm when the moon touches the edge of the disk of the sun on its way out of the sun’s disk. The sun sets at 8:20pm before the eclipse is over.
As the eclipse progresses it passes over the date line headed eastward. This annular eclipse will be visible in the late afternoon in the USA on the 20th (local date/time). As the eclipse path meets the coast the sun will only be about 20-30 degrees above the horizon (30 degrees at the start of the partial phase, just over 20 during the annular phase).
If I remember correctly, we observed that one in the afternoon through the leaves of our now-dead-and-gone umbrella catalpa in the backyard and with a pinhole viewer.
New Moon occurs on the 20th at 7:47 pm Eastern Daylight Time. At this time the Moon crosses the ecliptic directly in front of the Sun, producing an annular solar eclipse that will span the Pacific Ocean and make landfall on the U.S. West Coast. Residents of northern California, southern Oregon, central Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, central New Mexico and northern Texas will see the central portion of the eclipse. This will appear as a bright ring of light surrounding the dark disc of the Moon, which will cover just under 95% of the solar disc.
May 18, 2012: On June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.
Transits of Venus are very rare, coming in pairs separated by more than a hundred years. This June’s transit, the bookend of a 2004-2012 pair, won’t be repeated until the year 2117.
Of course, if you manage to miss May’s Full Perigee Moon, make a note on your calendar.Your next chance to see a Full Moon close to perigee, will be next year on June 23.
Full Moon occurs on the 5th at 11:35 pm Eastern Daylight Time. May’s Full Moon has a number of popular names, among which are the Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, and Hare Moon. This particular Full Moon occurs one minute after lunar perigee, and since perigee coincides with a Sun/Earth/Moon syzygy it is the closest perigee for the year. Luna will be 356,955 kilometers (221,801 miles) from Earth’s center at the time. Popular media have recently dubbed such a phenomenon as a "supermoon", since Luna is about 14% larger in apparent diameter and therefore brighter than a "regular" Full Moon.
May 1st is one of the four so-called "cross-quarter" days that hearken back to traditional calendars of medieval times. These days, along with the seasonal markers of solstices and equinoxes, were the traditional days when serfs paid rent to their feudal masters. Most of these "mid-season" dates are now forgotten, but we still unwittingly observe them in various cultures. Americans are quite familiar with Halloween and Groundhog Day, but May 1st isn’t widely observed on our side of the Atlantic Ocean. However, May Day is still widely celebrated in Europe, especially in countries with a strong Celtic tradition. The fourth cross-quarter day, Lammas, falls around August 1st and is probably the least observed of these traditional times. You can think of May Day as the middle of spring or as the beginning of summer. Either way we are now in the time when the length of daylight exceeds 14 hours, which it will do until early August.
Full Moon occurs on the 6th at 3:19 pm Eastern Daylight Time. April’s Full Moon is popularly known as the Grass Moon, Egg Moon, or Paschal Moon. As the first Full Moon to fall after the vernal equinox, it fixes the dates of Passover for Jews and Easter for Christians.
We’ll have to wait quite a while before we see as dazzling a gathering of planets in the western twilight sky as we have seen for the past few months. Now that Venus has left Jupiter in her wake the duo seem to go their separate ways, and their next close conjunction at such a prominent altitude in the evening sky won’t occur until the year 2036. However, early risers in the midsummer months will have a chance to enjoy the pair in close proximity in the morning sky for several weeks in late June and July before they ultimately part company. They will meet about once each year, either before dawn of after sunset, between now and 2036, but most of these encounters will occur in twilight within 15 degrees of the horizon. Favorable evening elongations of Venus, similar to the one she’s undergoing now, occur at eight year intervals, while Jupiter takes about 12 years to go once around the sky. Thus every third favorable elongation of Venus occurs when Jupiter has completed two orbits, and a dramatic conjunction occurs high in the post-twilight sky. Yes, the end of March 2036 should be quite spectacular, with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the Moon all visible in the western sky for your entertainment. Better mark those calendars now!
The “box†of Orion covers about 130 square degrees. The bowl of the Big Dipper holds about 45 square degrees. Crux, the Southern Cross, covers an area of only about 12 square degrees. But what is the area, in square degrees of the entire night sky? 41,253 square degrees.
This implies a set distance out from the surface of the globe to calc – come in closer, fewer square degrees, go out farther, more square degrees – spheres inside of spheres inside of spheres, which one do they pick? Should be able to calc the radius from the formula for the surface of a sphere (strictly, inner surface, but same calculation).
The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness. — John Muir 1838-1914
