 Space Science News home |
|
|
Space Science News home |
|
|
Aug. 21, 1998: The people of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific Ocean this evening will be treated to a spectacular celestial event with a rare annular eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves between the Earth and sun. Because their apparent diameters are about the same, usually the moon nicely blocks out the sun. But because the moon's orbit around the Earth is slightly elliptical, it is sometimes closer or farther from the Earth, thus appearing larger or smaller, respectively. Tonight, it is farther away and thus will not cover the entire sun. Instead, for people watching along the path of totality, a fiery ring or annulus will appear around the moon. |
 |
|
View the moon's shadow as it crosses the Earth. Images are courtesy the GMS-5 satellite and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center.
 |
This also makes watching the eclipse with the naked eye even
more dangerous than watching a solar eclipse during totality
because the brilliant solar surface is still visible throughout
the eclipse. (Watching any solar eclipse is dangerous
without proper protective eye gear!) Because this eclipse is annular, the skies will not darken to reveal the sun's tenuous corona. While this makes it less valuable from a scientific standpoint, the event is still spectacular. Japan's Yohkoh satellite, carrying X-ray telescopes that observe the sun nearly constantly, will capture the eclipse at three different periods (i.e., three different orbits) during the spacecraft's normal operations. Today's eclipse will start at 7:12 p.m. CDT (00:14 UT) when the moon's shadow is cast over the Indian Ocean. The path of totality - the centerline of the eclipse - will move across Malaysia and Borneo, south of the Philippines, north of New Guinea, and then across the South Pacific Ocean. |
| The eclipse ends at about 2 minutes past midnight EDT (05:02 UT) over the Pacific Ocean. Because it will be night in the Western Hemisphere, the eclipse will not be visible there. But, you can watch through the web links below. Or, click on the image of the Earth above to watch the progress of the moon's shadow across the Eastern Hemisphere. |
|
|
What does an annular eclipse look like? These pictures from Holloman AFB were taken during an annular solar eclipse on May 10th 1994. The three images span 25 minutes. |
|
|
|
|
More Space Science Headlines - NASA research on the web NASA's Office of Space Science press releases and other news related to NASA and astrophysics |
 Join
our growing list of subscribers - sign
up for our express news delivery and you will receive
a mail message every time we post a new story!!!More  Headlinesreturn to Space Science News Home Author: Dave
Dooling |
