During rush hour on Friday April 8th, you'll have something better to look at than swerving cars and orange construction cones -- a partial eclipse of the Sun. Out of everyone in the United States, South Florida residents have the best seat in the house to witness this strange phenomenon.
The Moon will partially cross the face of the Sun as viewed by those of us in South Florida. The eclipse begins at 5:20 pm and ends at 7:13 pm. For South Florida, the eclipse will reach maximum coverage at 6:20 pm with a little more than 40 percent of the Sun’s disk blocked out by the Moon.
This will not be a total eclipse (when the Moon completely blocks out the Sun). Instead, this eclipse will be a hybrid eclipse, also known as an annular-total eclipse (don't worry -- I'm about to explain what that means).
The eclipse will start out as an annular eclipse, become total and then finish as an annular eclipse. This strange phenomenon occurs due to the curvature of the Earth, where the vertex of the Moon’s umbral shadow touches some regions of the Earth (total eclipse), but the shadow falls short in other areas (annular eclipse).
Here is a cool photo of an annual eclipse, courtesy of Northern Arizona University.
The path of the greatest eclipse will cover a mere 0.06 percent of the Earth’s surface along its 8,800-mile corridor that stretches from southeast of New Zealand to Venezuela. The partial eclipse, however, will be visible over a much broader region of the Earth.
Even though we will see more than 40 percent of the Sun blocked out by the Moon, remember that it is never safe to look at the Sun. Looking at the Sun, even during an eclipse can be very damaging to your eyes.
One way to view this event is to project the image of the Sun through a telescope and watch the Moon cross the Sun. A second option is to use a safe solar filter to hold up directly at the Sun to observe the eclipse. You can also build a simple projector out of cardboard. There are a lot sites on the Internet that can tell you how to do this. I recommend this site. It gives you a few options and is very easy to understand.
Of course, none of these viewer options are safe for drivers during rush-hour traffic so plan to leave work early -- or better yet, take the day off and prepare to enjoy the eclipse.
If you have any questions, post a comment and I'll answer it shortly.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Beehive Cluster flies the night
Plus: Grab your eggs -- the equinox is coming
Set aside some star-gazing time. This March there's a lot to see in the nighttime sky -- you won't even need a telescope. Leo the Lion will climb higher in the east each day this month while the princess Andromeda will slowly sink in the northwest.
Walk outside tonight around 9 pm and take a look. The constellation Leo will be high in the sky. The head of Leo appears as a backwards question mark with a small triangle of stars behind the question mark-- those make up his back and tail. If you look carefully directly above you, there is a faint constellation that looks like the letter “Y”. This is cancer the crab, and just to the west of the split in the “Y” there is a faint cluster of stars called the Beehive Cluster. Because the cluster is so faint, if there are a lot of lights in your area, you will probably not be able to see the cluster.
As your journey through the stars continues, the next constellation in line is Gemini. Gemini looks like a large rectangle in the sky. Two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, mark the heads of the brothers. Slightly south of them is the planet Saturn. Saturn appears slightly brighter than Castor or Pollux.
Orion the hunter and Taurus the Bull both move lower in the western sky this month. Orion is an easy constellation to pick out -- just look for the three stars of his belt. Two stars above the belt form his shoulders and two stars below the belt form his knees. Follow the belt westward and you will see a V-shaped group of stars. These make up the head of Taurus. The two stars above the head mark the tips of the very long horns on this bull.
In the northwest sky near the horizon, princess Andromeda is ready to set. The princess appears as a very skinny “V” that is slightly bent.
Besides Saturn, three other planets will be visible in the sky at night this month: Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. Mercury is currently getting higher in the sky. By the 12th, it will reach its maximum height, then quickly become lost in the Sun’s glow by the month's end. The mighty planet Jupiter is visible just after evening twilight, low in the eastern sky. And if you wake up before sunrise, you'll find Mars high in the eastern sky.
As a side note, the vernal equinox occurs on the 20th this month. Many of you may think this means it's time to balance an egg on its top. Go ahead and try. However, remember that this also works on the other 364 days during the year. This trick has nothing to do with Earth’s position in relation to the Sun -- but it does look neat.
If you live in the south, stay tuned for an interesting event occurring in April.
Happy star-hunting.
Set aside some star-gazing time. This March there's a lot to see in the nighttime sky -- you won't even need a telescope. Leo the Lion will climb higher in the east each day this month while the princess Andromeda will slowly sink in the northwest.
Walk outside tonight around 9 pm and take a look. The constellation Leo will be high in the sky. The head of Leo appears as a backwards question mark with a small triangle of stars behind the question mark-- those make up his back and tail. If you look carefully directly above you, there is a faint constellation that looks like the letter “Y”. This is cancer the crab, and just to the west of the split in the “Y” there is a faint cluster of stars called the Beehive Cluster. Because the cluster is so faint, if there are a lot of lights in your area, you will probably not be able to see the cluster.
As your journey through the stars continues, the next constellation in line is Gemini. Gemini looks like a large rectangle in the sky. Two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, mark the heads of the brothers. Slightly south of them is the planet Saturn. Saturn appears slightly brighter than Castor or Pollux.
Orion the hunter and Taurus the Bull both move lower in the western sky this month. Orion is an easy constellation to pick out -- just look for the three stars of his belt. Two stars above the belt form his shoulders and two stars below the belt form his knees. Follow the belt westward and you will see a V-shaped group of stars. These make up the head of Taurus. The two stars above the head mark the tips of the very long horns on this bull.
In the northwest sky near the horizon, princess Andromeda is ready to set. The princess appears as a very skinny “V” that is slightly bent.
Besides Saturn, three other planets will be visible in the sky at night this month: Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. Mercury is currently getting higher in the sky. By the 12th, it will reach its maximum height, then quickly become lost in the Sun’s glow by the month's end. The mighty planet Jupiter is visible just after evening twilight, low in the eastern sky. And if you wake up before sunrise, you'll find Mars high in the eastern sky.
As a side note, the vernal equinox occurs on the 20th this month. Many of you may think this means it's time to balance an egg on its top. Go ahead and try. However, remember that this also works on the other 364 days during the year. This trick has nothing to do with Earth’s position in relation to the Sun -- but it does look neat.
If you live in the south, stay tuned for an interesting event occurring in April.
Happy star-hunting.
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