Starship Asterisk*

Solar Eclipse over the UAE

Explanation: What's happening behind that camel? A partial eclipse of the Sun. About six and a half weeks ago, the Moon passed completely in front of the Sun as seen from a narrow band on the Earth. Despite (surely) many camels being located in this narrow band, only one found itself stationed between this camera, the distant Moon, and the even more distant Sun. To create this impressive superposition, though, took a well-planned trip to the United Arab Emirates, careful alignments, and accurate timings on the day of the eclipse. Although the resulting featured image shows a partially eclipsed Sun rising, the Moon went on to appear completely engulfed by the Sun in an annular eclipse known as a ring of fire. Forward scattering of sunlight, dominated by quantum mechanical diffraction, gives the camel hair and rope fray an unusual glow. The next solar eclipse is also an annular eclipse and will occur this coming June.

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Like many people, APOD dont know the difference between a camel (two bumps) and a dromedary (one bump).

Donald Pelletier wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 6:42 am Like many people, APOD dont know the difference between a camel (two bumps) and a dromedary (one bump).

When did a dromedary become not a camel?

I'm sure the camel enjoyed it...

:---[===] *

Donald Pelletier wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 6:42 am Like many people, APOD dont know the difference between a camel (two bumps) and a dromedary (one bump).

I think you mean the bactrian and the dromedary, and last time i checked they were both fine specimens of camel.

Camel or dromedary, what a photograph !
Alex

First thing I thought of:
I'd walk a mile for a:
Oh; that's a different story!
Beautiful photo though!

The dromedary is a camel. It is one of the 3 camel species. The one with two humps lives in Central Asia, the bactrian camel.So the APOD description is correct.

Even the cigarettes brand Camel had a dromedary on their packs.

"What's happening behind that camel?" Too funny

Loved this picture. As mentioned, a lot of work to set up, but well worth the effort. Nice work, Joshua!

One question about the caption. I believe the Moon, as observed from Earth, is always falling behind the stars as it traverses the sky (from a fixed earthbound viewpoint). Therefore, if this is a morning shot, then it seems it must have happened after totality (annularity, I guess). Does that sound correct?

Devil Particle wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:30 pm "What's happening behind that camel?" Too funny

LOL. It is amusing to look up "Behind my Camel" on Wikipedia, referring to a song by the Police, and the conjectured origin of the title.

I'm a sort-of fan of the Police, but do not recognize the song, a short instrumental from their Zenyatta Mondatta album.

MarkBour wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 5:54 pm Loved this picture. As mentioned, a lot of work to set up, but well worth the effort. Nice work, Joshua!

One question about the caption. I believe the Moon, as observed from Earth, is always falling behind the stars as it traverses the sky (from a fixed earthbound viewpoint). Therefore, if this is a morning shot, then it seems it must have happened after totality (annularity, I guess). Does that sound correct?

Because of the Moon's orbit around the Earth, the Moon moves westward more slowly than the Sun. Because of Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Sun moves westward more slowly than the stars. So yes, this was after the eclipse maximum.

I wonder how much it cost to have the camel and its handler pose there until just the right shot was taken and how many shots it did take to get that striking image.