Eclipse Geeks
Eclipse Geeks - All you ever wanted to know about eclipse and other celstial bodies
Eclipses and other celestial bodies
All you ever wanted to know about Eclipses and other celestial bodies.
Just by using your eyes you can observe the planets of our Solar System, the stars, and other celestial bodies of the Universe.
You do not need a telescope, you do not even need binoculars. All you need are your eyes, go outside and look upwards to the night sky.
EG - eclipse geeks
Comprehensive, accurate and reliable information
Types of Eclipses
and Definition of an Eclipse
There are four eclipses during 2014: Two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses. Both lunar eclipses are total, one occurs on 15 April 2014 and the other occurs on the 08 October 2014. The two solar eclipses consist of an annular solar eclipse on 29 April 2014 and a partial solar eclipse on 23 October 2014.
Lunar and Solar Eclipses 2014 in order of sequence
1st eclipse: 15 April - Total Lunar Eclipse 3rd eclipse: 08 October 2014 - Total Lunar Eclipse
2nd eclipse: 29 April - Annular Solar Eclipse 4th eclipse: 23 October - Partial Solar Eclipse
Brief Definition of an Eclipse
An eclipse is the total or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another. It may occur when one celestial body passes in front of another therefore cutting off some or all of its light. It may also occur when a celestial body passes through all or part-off the shadow of another celestial body.
There are two primary types of eclipse which can be viewed from Earth, a Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse.
Sun, Earth and Moon in perfect alignment.
A Total Lunar Eclipse can only occur at Full Moon and can be seen from the entire night side of the Earth and looks the same to everyone.
The Sun, Earth and Moon all have to be in perfect alignment. As viewed from Earth the Moon passes through Earth's umbra shadow.
Although the Moon passes through Earth's umbra shadow, light is refracted by the atmosphere of Earth and turns the Moon into a glow of copper red, brown, crimson red, orange or yellow.
Sun, Moon and Earth in perfect alignment.
A Total Solar Eclipse can only occur when there is a New Moon, and only during the daytime. It is only seen by a minority of people along a narrow corridor and appears different according to one’s location.
The Sun, Moon and Earth all have to be in perfect alignment. As viewed from Earth, the Moon covers the Sun, blocking sunlight reaching Earth, and turns daytime into darkness. There is a rapid drop of temperature, and animals begin to bed down for the night.
Transit of Venus 2012 - a Special Year - 05/06 June 2012 - a brief summary
Transit of planet Venus June 2012
Transit’s of Venus across the disk of the Sun are amongst the rarest of planetary alignments.
They are so rare that only seven such transits have occurred since the invention of the telescope.
The previous transit of Venus was in 2004, and before that was in 1882.
There is a pattern to the Venusian transits. Previous years they occurred were, 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, and now the transit 05/06 June 2012.
The image on the left shows Venus at contact II (2). Contact II is when the entire disc of Venus is within the disc of the Sun.
The entire disk of the Venus is first seen at contact II when the planet is internally tangent with the Sun. During the next several hours, Venus gradually traverses the solar disk at a relative angular rate of approximately 4 arc-min/hr.
Only certain regions on Earth will be able to view the rare Transit of Venus. Regions of night time Earth will not be able to view the rare sight of Venus traversing across the Sun's disc. Other regions will be able to view part of the Transit, either at Sunrise or Sunset.
The complete Transit of Venus can be viewed from; Eastern Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Phillippines, North Korea, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Alaska, north west British Columbia, extreme north west Canada, eastern Russian Federation and east Asia region.
This is the last Transit of Venus this century. It does not occur again until the 22nd century, 11 December 2117 and then again on 08 December 2125.
Australia Total Solar Eclipse November 2012
Important note concerning the date of the solar eclipse
How to make sure that you turn up on the correct day
WHY are two different dates shown on some websites and news articles - the 13th and 14th - what is going on?
The November 2012 Total Solar Eclipse path traverses several time zones and astronomers need to co-ordinate data using a single reference time.
Australia Local Time
The Total Solar Eclipse occurs locally over north east Australia on Wednesday morning 14 November 2012.
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time and GMT - Greenwich Meantime
Astronmers use a co-ordinated single reference time of UTC - Coordinated Universal Time; GMT - Greenwich Meantime.
Using astronomical time theTotal Eclipse Phase Begins 13 November 20:37:03.0, but as Australia is several time zones ahead of GMT, observers from locations within the path of the eclipse have to add their own time difference to that of Greenwich Meantime.
UTC and GMT are for all general purposes the same thing. UTC is sometimes referred to as UT - Universal Time. Unless describing a high accracy of time, all three, UTC, GMT and UT are interchangable.
UTC / UT / GMT Iinternational Time Scale
UTC / UT / GMT is an international time scale used for astronomical and other products to record and predict events. This ensures that the time of an event is universally understood. It avoids ambiguity or confusion. It also avoids confusion about time zones and daylight saving time.
UTC is also the time standard used in aviation, weather forecasts, flight plans, air traffic control clearances and maps,
Total Solar Eclipse - UTC / GMT - 13 November 2012
Using astronomical time the Total Eclipse Phase Begins 13 November 20:37:03.0
The Prime Meridian Greenwich, London England
Astronomical data, computers and civilian time zones throughout the world all use a single reference time which is measured from the Prime Meridian at Greenwich London England. The Prime Meridian is the line of 0° of longitude which divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. All world time zones are either set in front or behind the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
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