SubJeff on 13/11/2012 at 16:47
Depends were you are. It'll be 14th in Australia where this feed will be from:
(
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/13/total_solar_eclipse_live/)
at 19:38 GMT 13th Nov.
There is a placeholder video for the moment with a very, to me, interesting section starting at 1.50 in. According to this guy they diameter of the sun is 400x that of the moon, and also 400 times farther away. This can't be right, it can't be that exact. If the dimensions were slightly different then the path of totality would just be a different size, wouldn't it?
Anyways, I've seen eclipses of the Moon but never of the Sun. It's on my bucket list.
Chimpy Chompy on 13/11/2012 at 16:50
iirc it's pretty exact, yeah. It's why the eclipse is a good time to see the sun's corona, because the moon is blocking everything else.
Trance on 13/11/2012 at 17:07
The moon does vary a bit in its distance from the earth, which is why the last big eclipse we had it wasn't a total eclipse but rather an (
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/ring_of_fire_eclipse_2012.html) annular (ring of fire) eclipse where the moon covers about 90-95% of the sun. But in a lot of cases the moon is at just the right distance to cover all of the sun.
SubJeff on 13/11/2012 at 19:27
This is the only coincidence that makes me wonder about a creator. A bit closer and no corona, a bit further and only ever a partial eclipse.
As it is, it's just right.
Vivian on 13/11/2012 at 22:17
gravitational lens effect, isn't it?
Trance on 13/11/2012 at 23:03
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
This is the only coincidence that makes me wonder about a creator. A bit closer and no corona, a bit further and only ever a partial eclipse.
As it is, it's just right.
The moon is slowly moving away from Earth as it orbits, so the day will come when we won't get total eclipses anymore.
Chimpy Chompy on 13/11/2012 at 23:22
Quote Posted by Vivian
gravitational lens effect, isn't it?
I don't think lensing is the cause of the near-equal apparent sizes, it wouldn't have that big an effect. Eclipses can be used to study the amount of lensing on stars near the position of the sun, tho.
SubJeff on 14/11/2012 at 00:15
Quote Posted by Vivian
gravitational lens effect, isn't it?
Don't you need much bigger distances to notice the effect of this, and isn't it pretty subtle anyway?
Anyways, check that vid I linked to (if it's still there). Guy explains the size and distance thing.
Kolya on 14/11/2012 at 00:26
I've seen a solar eclipse a few years ago. I was driving with a few friends through the netherlands to get a better view, basically we were chasing it.
When it happened we were in an open field. It got slightly darker for a while and a chilly wind came up. But it was still quite bright when only a small part of the sun could still be seen. And only when that last bit vanished darkness came all of a sudden and the wind got stronger. Birds chirped freaked out and that howling cold wind was terrifying. It had been a warm sunny day just minutes ago. I got a feeling for what the end of the world might be like and I understood why ancient cultures believed in the work of gods.
