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| The Apollo 12 crew took this picture of a solar eclipse during their return home. |
It’s not every day we have an eclipse. A total solar eclipse
August 21, 2017, highlighted part of the day for residents in states like
Oregon, Idaho, and South Carolina. Even the partial eclipse was visible to
everyone in North America! People in certain parts of Africa, Europe, and South
America also were treated to its spectacular view.
Eclipse parties, picnics, and campouts created a variety of
excitement. Roadways and highways resembled the chaotic traffic normally associated
with professional games, big-name concerts, and the first idyllic beach day of
the season.
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| 1846 lunar eclipse |
NASA is always a good site to visit for space information
and guidelines. If you or the kids missed the action, visit this page for an
update.
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), operated by NASA, was launched in 2010. It records events including picture dialogues during its annual
two short eclipse seasons, about three weeks each. Its view of the sun is
blocked by Earth at different times during the day. SDO’s orbit, however, reduces most interference.
Some sunlight leaks through Earth’s atmosphere when it
blocks the sun, making a fuzzy shadow of the planet’s boundaries. The moon
lacks an atmosphere, so its curved shape is clean and clear when its eclipse of
the sun is seen from SDO.
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| Earth and Lunar eclipses from SDO |
On March 11, 2013, Earth eclipsed the sun approximately 1.5
hours. Shortly afterwards, a partial eclipse was created as the moon moved in front
of the sun for just over an hour. Two separate objects blocking the sun’s light
in such a close amount of time is an amazing experience!
Oct 23, 2014
solar eclipse as seen from Minneapolis, MN (attributed to Tomruen).
Here's
Saturn eclipsing the sun. The spacecraft Cassini got the shot September15,
2006. The various rings of Saturn are quite intriguing.
In our part
of Nevada, we had a partial eclipse and an amazing reduction of natural
sunlight. It was fun to stand in the shade of the tall fruitless mulberry tree
and peer through the leaves wearing my “eclipse gazers”. How did you and your
family observe this wonder of nature?
