Starship Asterisk*

rtgambit wrote:Found a neat program that shows the location of the planets for any given point in time. http://chronita.com/luna/solar.php?max&anim=0&clock=0

Going back 3431 days shows that Jupiter would be on the left and Saturn on the right from the Earth's point of view. Given the amount of noise in the frame it's possible that it caused the distortion we're seeing.

Chris Peterson wrote:

combsab wrote:
Why is the eclipse shadow pentagonal in shape? I might assume it's a lens artifact, but there's no corresponding distortion in the Earth.

It's not. The shadow is the projection of a circle onto a sphere. It only appears a bit pentagonal because you are seeing structure in the clouds at the shadow edge, and because the human brain is so good at picking out patterns.

combsab wrote:Why is the eclipse shadow pentagonal in shape? I might assume it's a lens artifact, but there's no corresponding distortion in the Earth.

APODFORIST wrote:I still have no idea of the position of the shadow. But the star map on STELLARIUM says Saturn and Jupiter over the horizon are at WEST.

Roger Herzler: [i][url=http://theastropages.com/articles/articles011.htm]theastropages.com[/url][/i] wrote:
Its been asked what those two "objects" are in the top left corner of the image. Some suggestions include space junk or even stars. After some postulating and investigating by myself and other folks on the Astro List, a case has been made that they are the planets Jupiter and Saturn. According to CNES (the French space agency) this photo was taken by the French spationaut on board Mir at exactly 10h13m Universal Time. That puts the eclipse at around 50N 05W (latitude & longitude), or in the head waters of the English Channel. When the appropriate times and locations are entered into SkyMap (and other planetarium packages from folks on the Astro List) both Jupiter and Saturn are right on the money for that shot. In addition, Bill Arnett of the Astro List made this observation:

"And Mir was above France's Massif Central. When I tell Starry Night to put me at that time and place I clearly see the English channel and, sure enough, Jupiter and Saturn in the correct orientation above the horizon and the Moon shadow."

León wrote:

Click to view full size image

Will be seen in Europe, Africa and Central Asia. Begin at 06:40:11 UT (Universal Time)) and culminates at 11:00:54 UT.

Northshore wrote:It would appear that the image shows the shadow of the moon somewhere in Northern Quebec, Canada as the circular crate could very well be Lake Manicouagan - an old eroded impact site. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manicouagan_crater)

I question the observation "The two bright spots that appear on the upper left are thought to be Jupiter and Saturn." The lower one could indeed be a planet, but the upper one? Since all of the image is quite sharp, how can the planet be elongated? It appears that it is a double object or possible a man made object.

Has anyone else noticed this problem?

rainproof wrote:
I notice that there is an almost perfect circle/ring just outside of the shadow.

It appears to me that it may be a meteor or comet impact area, or is it something else?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_11,_1999 wrote:

Track of the Aug. 11, 1999 total eclipse

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# The BBC concentrated its coverage efforts on the first landfall of the shadow across the western end of Cornwall ( from St Ives to Lizard), which was packed with an extraordinary number of visitors, although Cornwall did not have nearly as many as expected leading to many specially organised events to be left with very small attendance.. The veteran eclipse-watcher, Patrick Moore, was brought in to head a live programme, but the eclipse was clouded out. BBC One also produced a special version of their Balloon Idents for the event. Unfortunately, the BBC did not have a presence at Goonhilly on the Lizard Peninsula, as this was one of the few places in Cornwall where the clouds parted just in time for the total eclipse to be visible.

# Some of the best viewing conditions were to be had mid-Channel, where ferries were halted in calm conditions to obtain an excellent view. Hundreds of people who gathered on the island of Alderney also experienced the event.

# A gathering of several thousand people at the airport in Soissons, France, which was on the path of totality, were denied all but a few fleeting glimpses of the eclipse through the overcast sky. Frustratingly, the clouds cleared completely just a few minutes after the eclipse.

# Further inland, viewing conditions were also perfect at Vouziers, a French country town which was gridlocked by Belgian cars from day-visitors. The patchy cloud covering cleared a short time before the shadow arrived. Some photos from Vouziers were used on the subsequent BBC Sky at Night programme.>>