Uk partial solar eclipse 4th Jan 2011

[lbsf1]

Hi Guys.

I just googled when the next solar eclipse is and it turns out there is one in 5 days, it will be visible at and just after sunrise on the 4th Jan. It will be visible in the South of England.

I think this is worth a thread because the next one for us in the uk after this is 2015 then 2018.

After this one this thread will be edited to be to report globally about when there will be eclipses.

Thanks
Luke

Looking forward (or should it be up) to it.

 

[Crumpet]

A solar eclipse? Don't exactly know what that is, I was told about it in school, but as I don't listen I forgot, care to explain what happens?

 

[blaaah]

A solar eclipse? Don't exactly know what that is, I was told about it in school, but as I don't listen I forgot, care to explain what happens?

Why bother when you might not listen again?
.................
Just remember 5 seconds of looking can permanently damage your vision. Pinhole cameras are recommended or ask the local astronomical society to borrow a filtered telescope.

 

[Keef]

Even better, I'll show you:

The moon's orbit around the Earth occasionally - every year - puts it between the sun and the planet. If it works out right it will pass in front of the sun during the day, blocking the sun's light. If it works out perfectly it will completely fill the sun's shape and block it out of the sky altogether. That's called a total solar eclipse, and when that happens the contrast of the dark moon means you can see the sun's corona, which is not something you should look directly at...

 

[Dotini]

It's an extremely curious coincidence that the Moon is exactly the right size and distance to exactly mask the Sun.

 

[blaaah]

It's an extremely curious coincidence that the Moon is exactly the right size and distance to exactly mask the Sun.

A coincidence in part due to us being here right now in time in order to see it. In the future the distance between the Earth and the Moon will be different, so people will be thinking how annoying it is that if only the moon was a different size an eclipse would be really special and you could see the corona.

 

[PeterJB]

It will be an enormously long time before you can't see the corona. The Moon approaches the Earth at a rate of less than 1 cm a year.

 

[Dotini]

I had thought that long ago the Moon was closer to the Earth, but is now gradually slipping away. I'm not sure of this, though. Mass is continually being added to the Earth, so perhaps the Moon can never slip too far away.

 

[blaaah]

It will be an enormously long time before you can't see the corona. The Moon approaches the Earth at a rate of less than 1 cm a year.

From Wiki:
"Since the distance between the Moon and the Earth is very slowly increasing over time,[88] the angular diameter of the Moon is decreasing. This means that hundreds of millions of years ago the Moon would always completely cover the Sun on solar eclipses, and no annular eclipses were possible. Likewise, about 600 million years from now (if the angular diameter of the Sun does not change), the Moon will no longer cover the Sun completely, and only annular eclipses will occur.[98]"

 

[Tired Tyres]

It will be an enormously long time before you can't see the corona. The Moon approaches the Earth at a rate of less than 1 cm a year.

Actually it's moving away at 1 CM per year.

 

[homeforsummer]

I had thought that long ago the Moon was closer to the Earth, but is now gradually slipping away. I'm not sure of this, though. Mass is continually being added to the Earth, so perhaps the Moon can never slip too far away.

According to the Stellarium program I downloaded, the moon is currently 0.00253728 AU (astronomical units - the distance from the Earth to the Sun) from Earth, and that last digit is increasing every ten seconds or so, so it's getting very slowly further away.

Amusing to note that even the Sun isn't 1 AU away though, only 0.98. Presumably it's one of those benchmark figures they came up with in the early days of modern astronomy which has now changed.

 

[BobK]

Amusing to note that even the Sun isn't 1 AU away though, only 0.98. Presumably it's one of those benchmark figures they came up with in the early days of modern astronomy which has now changed.

Check it again six months from now, it should be 1.02 AU away.

 

[Keef]

Right. The Earth's orbit around the sun is a bit oblong so that measurement constantly changes but averages to about 1.