Bryn
2011-01-03, 07:04 PM
Tomorrow, there will be a partial solar eclipse visible in 'much of Europe, North Africa and central Asia'. Quoting NASA (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#SE2011Jan04P):
The first solar eclipse of 2011 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in eastern Sagittarius. A partial eclipse will be visible from much of Europe, North Africa and central Asia (Figure 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2011-Fig01.pdf)).
The penumbral shadow first touches Earth's surface in northern Algeria at 06:40:11 UT. As the shadow travels east, Western Europe will be treated to a partial eclipse at sunrise. The eclipse magnitude [1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#1)] from European cities like Madrid (0.576), Paris (0.732), London (0.747), and Copenhagen (0.826) will give early morning risers an excellent opportunity to photograph the sunrise eclipse with interesting foreground scenery.
Greatest eclipse [2 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#2)] occurs at 08:50:35 UT in northern Sweden where the eclipse in the horizon will have a magnitude of 0.858. At that time, the axis of the Moon's shadow will pass a mere 510 km above Earth's surface. Most of northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia also lie in the penumbra's path. The citizens of Cairo (0.551), Jerusalem (0.574), Istanbul (0.713), and Tehran (0.507) all witness a large magnitude partial eclipse.
A sunset eclipse will be visible from central Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and northwest China. The partial eclipse ends when the penumbra leaves Earth at 11:00:54 UT.
Local circumstances and eclipse times for a number of cities in the penumbral path are listed in Table 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab01.pdf). All times are in Universal Time. The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and eclipse obscuration [3 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#3)] are all given at the instant of maximum eclipse. When the eclipse is in progress at sunrise or sunset, this information is indicated by a '-'.
The NASA JavaScript Solar Eclipse Explorer is an interactive web page that can quickly calculate the local circumstances of the eclipse from any geographic location not included in Table 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab01.pdf):
eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/JSEX/JSEX-index.html (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/JSEX/JSEX-index.html)
Unfortunately, it looks like it will be cloudly in this part of England and I may therefore miss the eclipse. Hopefully, though, somebody will be able to see it. Remember eclipse safety (http://www.mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html#Sun), don't ruin your eyesight by looking directly at the sun!
Eye Suicide
Standard or polaroid sunglasses are not solar filters. They may afford some eye relief if you are outside on a bright day, but you would never think of using them to stare at the Sun. So you cannot use sunglasses, even crossed polaroids, to stare at the Sun during the partial phases of an eclipse. They provide little or no eye protection for this purpose.
The first solar eclipse of 2011 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in eastern Sagittarius. A partial eclipse will be visible from much of Europe, North Africa and central Asia (Figure 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2011-Fig01.pdf)).
The penumbral shadow first touches Earth's surface in northern Algeria at 06:40:11 UT. As the shadow travels east, Western Europe will be treated to a partial eclipse at sunrise. The eclipse magnitude [1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#1)] from European cities like Madrid (0.576), Paris (0.732), London (0.747), and Copenhagen (0.826) will give early morning risers an excellent opportunity to photograph the sunrise eclipse with interesting foreground scenery.
Greatest eclipse [2 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#2)] occurs at 08:50:35 UT in northern Sweden where the eclipse in the horizon will have a magnitude of 0.858. At that time, the axis of the Moon's shadow will pass a mere 510 km above Earth's surface. Most of northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia also lie in the penumbra's path. The citizens of Cairo (0.551), Jerusalem (0.574), Istanbul (0.713), and Tehran (0.507) all witness a large magnitude partial eclipse.
A sunset eclipse will be visible from central Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and northwest China. The partial eclipse ends when the penumbra leaves Earth at 11:00:54 UT.
Local circumstances and eclipse times for a number of cities in the penumbral path are listed in Table 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab01.pdf). All times are in Universal Time. The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and eclipse obscuration [3 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#3)] are all given at the instant of maximum eclipse. When the eclipse is in progress at sunrise or sunset, this information is indicated by a '-'.
The NASA JavaScript Solar Eclipse Explorer is an interactive web page that can quickly calculate the local circumstances of the eclipse from any geographic location not included in Table 1 (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab01.pdf):
eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/JSEX/JSEX-index.html (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/JSEX/JSEX-index.html)
Unfortunately, it looks like it will be cloudly in this part of England and I may therefore miss the eclipse. Hopefully, though, somebody will be able to see it. Remember eclipse safety (http://www.mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html#Sun), don't ruin your eyesight by looking directly at the sun!
Eye Suicide
Standard or polaroid sunglasses are not solar filters. They may afford some eye relief if you are outside on a bright day, but you would never think of using them to stare at the Sun. So you cannot use sunglasses, even crossed polaroids, to stare at the Sun during the partial phases of an eclipse. They provide little or no eye protection for this purpose.