Starship Asterisk*

Total Solar Eclipse over Svalbard

Explanation: Going, going, gone. That was the feeling in Svalbard, Norway last month during a total eclipse of the Sun by the Moon. In the featured image, the eclipse was captured every three minutes and then digitally merged with a foreground frame taken from the same location. Visible in the foreground are numerous gawking eclipse seekers, some deploying pretty sophisticated cameras. As the Moon and Sun moved together across the sky -- nearly horizontally from this far north -- an increasing fraction of the Sun appears covered by the Moon. In the central frame, the Moon's complete blockage of the disk of the Sun makes the immediate surroundings appear like night during the day. The exception is the Moon itself, which now appears surrounded by the expansive corona of the Sun. Of course, about 2.5 minutes later, the surface of the Sun began to reappear. The next total eclipse of the Sun will occur in 2016 March and be visible from Southeast Asia.

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I don't think the "reappear" link is quite right. The two orbs are too far apart to just be reappearing from an eclipse.

I'm surprised that the duration of the eclipse was about 2 hours - according to the "3 minute" explanation in the caption.

I did not experience the event, but I was under the impression that it was expected to be very quick.

Perhaps I misunderstood - the "quick" period would have been the moment of totality. Yes?

George Dunbar wrote:I'm surprised that the duration of the eclipse was about 2 hours - according to the "3 minute" explanation in the caption.

I did not experience the event, but I was under the impression that it was expected to be very quick.

Perhaps I misunderstood - the "quick" period would have been the moment of totality. Yes?

Yes. It was total for around three minutes. The complete eclipse through its partial phases was a couple of hours. (Looks like the images for three minutes on each side of totality were left out of this composite- either because they were too dark to show, or because they would have messed up the corona.)

A bit off topic, but we just watched a documentary that showed the hardships that astronomers went thru and many attempts to photo a solar eclipse to test Einstein's theory of general relativity. Then to come here and see this beautiful image at APOD was very moving.

I'm wondering what the dot is to the southwest? Is it Mercury?

Brrrrrr.....but a great view, and great pic!

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eralston wrote:I'm wondering what the dot is to the southwest? Is it Mercury?

Using Stellarium...during the eclipse...from Sweden...indeed Mercury was there...

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Hmmm..... http://epod.usra.edu/blog/

Beyond wrote:I don't think the "reappear" link is quite right. The two orbs are too far apart to just be reappearing from an eclipse.

The cat is thinking, “This isn’t really a super position to be in. If I stay here long enough, it’s going to smell like something decayed in here! Would someone please notice me while I’m still alive?”
“Lucky” - our cat had time to eclipse its fate and a lapse of time to ponder others.

This is the kind of image that makes me wonder how ancient cultures dealt with these events. We may understand what is going on, but some 2000 or more years ago people probably were scared to death. Somewhere in Greece somebody may have cried out that Selene is fighting with Helios, or Apollo and Artemis (I understand that depends on the period, but who knows).

Craine wrote:
This is the kind of image that makes me wonder how ancient cultures dealt with these events. We may understand what is going on, but some 2000 or more years ago people probably were scared to death. Somewhere in Greece somebody may have cried out that Selene is fighting with Helios, or Apollo and Artemis (I understand that depends on the period, but who knows).

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/dragon.html
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/sola ... myths.html
http://www.pitara.com/non-fiction-for-k ... -eclipses/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... e-science/

neufer wrote:

Craine wrote:
This is the kind of image that makes me wonder how ancient cultures dealt with these events. We may understand what is going on, but some 2000 or more years ago people probably were scared to death. Somewhere in Greece somebody may have cried out that Selene is fighting with Helios, or Apollo and Artemis (I understand that depends on the period, but who knows).

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/dragon.html
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/sola ... myths.html
http://www.pitara.com/non-fiction-for-k ... -eclipses/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... e-science/

Cool links! Thanks.
Those are some wonderful stories. The sun is being eaten by a giant frog! And that reminded me of this one:
"Many races believe that the creation of the Universe involved some sort of God, though the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI believe that the entire Universe was in fact sneezed out of the nose of a being known as the Great Green Arkleseizure. The Jatravartids live in perpetual fear of the time they call the Coming of the Great White Handkerchief, somewhat similar to the Apocalypse. However, the Great Green Arkleseizure theory is not widely accepted outside Viltvodle VI and so, the Universe being as wide and strange as it is, other explanations are constantly being sought by different races throughout the Galaxy."
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams

I have a question: In todays sun eclipse photo, did the beginning occur to the right or left of the full sun eclipse?

Thanks for your reply.

John PS

Atma wrote:
In todays sun eclipse photo, did the beginning occur to the right or left of the full sun eclipse?

Thanks for your reply.

From the Arctic:

• 1) the Sun & Moon will be to the South;
  2) the Earth (& to some extent the Moon) will move from right to left;
  3) the Sun will appear to move from left to right (but somewhat faster than the Moon).