SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES.
Vaishnava perspective
of the significance of a Graha grasthah - eclipses.
last update 8th July 2010
http://spaceweather.com
Partial Lunar Eclipse of 26th June 2010
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html
The first lunar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in western Sagittarius about 3° east of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). It is visible from much of the Americas, the Pacific and eastern Asia (Figure 2). The Moon's contact times with Earth's shadows are listed below.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 08:57:21 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 10:16:57 UT
Greatest Eclipse:
11:38:27 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 12:59:50
UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 14:19:34 UT
At the instant of greatest eclipse4 the umbral eclipse magnitude5 will reach 0.5368. At that time the Moon will be at the zenith for observers in the South Pacific. In spite of the fact that barely half of the Moon enters the umbral shadow (the Moon's northern limb dips 16.2 arc-minutes into the umbra), the partial phase still lasts 2 2/3 hours.
Visible in NZ
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1006/S00113.htm
Total Solar Eclipse of 11th July 2010
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SE2010Jul11T.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_11,_2010
http://www.rasnz.org.nz/Eclipses/2010Eclipses.htm
Not visible from New Zealand
The second solar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon's descending node in central Gemini just 45 arc-minutes east of the 3rd magnitude star Delta Geminorum. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow crosses the South Pacific Ocean where it makes no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands), Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and several isolated atolls. The path of totality ends just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina (Espenak and Anderson, 2008). The Moon's penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America (Figure 3).
The central eclipse path begins in the South Pacific about 700 km southeast of Tonga at 18:15 UT. Traveling northeast, the track misses Rarotonga - the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands - by just 25 km. The first landfall occurs at Mangaia where the total eclipse lasts 3 minutes 18 seconds with the Sun 14° above the horizon.
The southern coast line of French Polynesia's Tahiti lies a tantalizing 20 km north of the eclipse path and experiences a deep 0.996 magnitude partial eclipse at 18:28 UT. Several cruises are already scheduled to intercept the umbral shadow from Papeete.
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar-eclipse-july-11-2010.html
Greatest eclipse occurs in the South Pacific at 19:33:31 UT. At this instant, the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center. The maximum duration of totality is 5 minutes 20 seconds, the Sun's altitude is 47°, and the path width is 259 km. Continuing across the vast Pacific, the umbral shadow's path encounters Easter Island, one of the most remote locations on Earth. From the capital, Hanga Roa, totality lasts 4 minutes 41 seconds with the Sun 40° above the horizon (20:11 UT). The 3,800 inhabitants of the isle are accustomed to tourism, but the eclipse is expected to bring record numbers to this unique destination.
The Moon's shadow sweeps across another 3700 km of open ocean before beginning its final landfall along the rocky shores of southern Chile at 20:49 UT. The shadow is now an elongated ellipse and its increasing ground velocity brings with it a corresponding decrease in the duration of totality. It is mid-winter in the Andes so clouds and high mountain peaks threaten to block views of the total eclipse. Nevertheless some hearty eclipse observers will find Argentina's tourist village of El Calafate a prime destination for the eclipse. The Sun's altitude is only 1° during the 2 minute 47 second total phase, but the lake may offer an adequate line-of-site to the eclipse hanging just above the rugged Andes skyline.
The path ends in southern Argentina when the umbra slips off Earth's surface as it returns to space (20:52 UT). Over the course of 2 2/3 hours, the umbra travels along a track approximately 11,100 km long that covers 0.48% of Earth's surface area. It will be 29 months before the next total solar eclipse occurs on 2012 Nov 13.
Path coordinates and central line circumstances are presented in Table 4. Local circumstances for a number of cities are listed in Table 5. All times are given in Universal Time. The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and obscuration are all given at the instant of maximum eclipse.
This is the 27th eclipse of Saros 146 (Espenak and Meeus, 2006). The series began on 1541 Sep 19 with the first of an unusually long series of 22 partial eclipses. The first central eclipse was total with a maximum duration of 4.1 minutes on 1938 May 29. Subsequent total eclipses in the series have seen an increase in the duration of totality. The 2010 eclipse marks the longest totality of Saros 146 because future durations will decrease. The series produces the first of 4 hybrid eclipses on 2172 Oct 17. The remaining 24 central eclipses of Saros 141 are all annular and span the period from 2244 Dec 01 to 2659 Aug 10. The series ends with a set of 13 partial eclipses the last of which occurs on 2893 Dec 29.
In all, Saros 146 produces 35 partial, 13 total, 4 hybrid and 24 annular eclipses. Complete details for the series can be found at:
Here's the trajectory of the upcoming total solar eclipse. If you click on areas around the map you get data for the consequential partial eclipse area (different angles).
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=20100711
Total Lunar Eclipse of 21st December 2010
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html
The last lunar eclipse of 2010 is especially well placed for observers throughout North America. The eclipse occurs at the Moon's descending node in eastern Taurus, four days before perigee.
The Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the northern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 72 minutes. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event are shown in Figure 4. The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 05:29:17 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 06:32:37 UT
Total Eclipse Begins: 07:40:47
UT
Greatest Eclipse:
08:16:57 UT
Total Eclipse Ends:
08:53:08 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 10:01:20
UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 11:04:31 UT
At the instant of greatest eclipse (08:17 UT) the Moon lies near the zenith for observers in southern California and Baja Mexico. At this time, the umbral magnitude peaks at 1.2561 as the Moon's southern limb passes 2.8 arc-minutes north of the shadow's central axis. In contrast, the Moon's northern limb lies 8.1 arc-minutes from the northern edge of the umbra and 34.6 arc-minutes from the shadow center. Thus, the southern half of the Moon will appear much darker than the northern half because it lies deeper in the umbra. Since the Moon samples a large range of umbral depths during totality, its appearance will change dramatically with time. It is not possible to predict the exact brightness distribution in the umbra, so observers are encouraged to estimate the Danjon value at different times during totality (see Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness). Note that it may also be necessary to assign different Danjon values to different portions of the Moon (i.e., north vs. south).
During totality, the winter constellations are well placed for viewing so a number of bright stars can be used for magnitude comparisons. Pollux (mv = +1.16) is 25° east of the eclipsed Moon, while Betelgeuse (mv = +0.45) is 16° to the south, Aldebaran (mv = +0.87) is 20° to the west, and Capella (mv = +0.08) is 24° to the north.
The entire event is visible from North America and western South America. Observers along South America's east coast miss the late stages of the eclipse because they occur after moonset. Likewise much of Europe and Africa experience moonset while the eclipse is in progress. Only northern Scandinavians can catch the entire event from Europe. For observers in eastern Asia the Moon rises in eclipse. None of the eclipse is visible from south and east Africa, the Middle East or South Asia.
Table 6 lists predicted umbral immersion and emersion times for 20 well-defined lunar craters. The timing of craters is useful in determining the atmospheric enlargement of Earth's shadow (see Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses).
The December 21 total lunar eclipse belongs to Saros 125 a series of 72 eclipses in the following sequence: 17 penumbral, 13 partial, 26 total, 9 partial, and 7 penumbral lunar eclipses (Espenak and Meeus, 2009). Complete details for the series can be found at:
Eclipses During 2011
During 2011, there will be four partial solar eclipses and two total lunar eclipses:
* 2011 Jan 04: Partial Solar Eclipse
* 2011 Jun 01: Partial Solar Eclipse
* 2011 Jun 15: Total Lunar Eclipse
* 2011 Jul 01: Partial Solar Eclipse
* 2011 Nov 25: Partial Solar Eclipse
* 2011 Dec 10: Total Lunar Eclipse
A full report on eclipses during 2011 will be published in Observer's Handbook 2011.
All information is available for all lunar and solar eclipses for our region here http://www.rasnz.org.nz/index.htm
All diagrams and predictions used on this page have been prepared with the aid of OCCULT 4 by David Herald.
Please visit http://spaceweather.com
for eclipse maps, timetables and photos.
(See also NASA's solar eclipse pages and NASA's Lunar eclipse pages)
The world meeting planner is a useful tool in this regard http://www.worldtimezone.com/time/wtzplanner.php?m=8&y=2008#
Map of Solar Eclipses until 2020:
NASA's Solar Eclipse list 2001 - 2010 - Very useful maps and graphix
Solar Eclipse computer - http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SolarEclipse.html
(Longitude and Latitude and Time zone found on top of Vcal calender)
computes circumstances for selected solar eclipses at any given location
(http://aa.usno.navy.mil/)
Lunar Eclipse computer - http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/LunarEclipse.html
(Longitude and Latitude and Time zone found on top of Vcal calender)
computes circumstances for selected solar eclipses at any given location
(http://aa.usno.navy.mil/)
Scroll down to the red Form B - Locations Worldwide Just type in your town or city and click on Place Name. Then click on Get Data, very simple.
With all Solar & Lunar Eclipses (do not cook, eat, etc. Only Chant Hare Krishna) see eclipses-page
For more details on Graha-grashtha - Solar and Lunar Eclipses please view our page
Here's a new page of quoting what
to do during Solar and Lunar Eclipses
Just a heads up to alert you that next Gaura purnima there will be a total eclipse of the Moon visible in India and hence Mayapura. The eclipse starts after midnight in Mayapura on Gaura Purnima (see details below) so technically by the yavana calendar it will be on March 4, 2007 but since the day starts at sunrise by Krsna's Vedic system it will still be Gaura Purnima day.
For more information go to:
Click on it to enlarge the image.
You will see two diagrams:
1 of the Moon moving through the shadow with annotations such P1, U1, U2 etc
2 of the map of the earth showing where the eclipse will be visible.
On the right hand side between these two diagrams you will see a table of times called "Eclipse contacts" which give you the time in UT - Universal Time--which for all intents and purposes is the same as GMT for non-astronomers like us. To convert it to IST we need just add 5:30.
The important ones are U1-U4 that is when the Moon enters the actual shadow (Rahu) aka the umbra, hence U1 is when it enters and U4 is when it leaves. U2-U3 are the times of maximum eclipse and it will be a total eclipse in which the Moon will look dark red assuming of course that the sky will be clear so as to be visible, which it should be at that time of year.
Note that the eclipse starts (U1) at 3:00 AM IST and ends (U4) at 6:42 IST the ending time will not be visible because the Sun will have risen (6:01AM) in Mayapur by then.
But note that the times of maximum and thus total eclipse U2-U3 will be from 4:14AM-5:28AM and that the sun will not rise until 6:01 AM. That means that basically from 3:00AM till sunrise Mayapura will be subjected to the eclipse with the maximum phase during mangala arotika.
The time for the beginning of the penumberal phase P1 is not relevant to us because for all practical purposes we can not notice any thing and it is of academic interest to astronomers with sensitive light sensing meters. For more explanation of this see:
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/why_lunar.html
and read the section explaining it where it says: "From Earth, when the Moon passes through the penumbra we see it dimming due to the reduced light, although in practice this can be hard to see with the eye."
We had experience of such a penumberal eclipse earlier this year and saw absolutely no effect on the Moon. It was a complete dud. So I would just ignore the time between P1 and U1.
But from 3:00 am till sunrise Mayapura Dham will experience the eclipse so what ever measures that are to be taken during such events should be organized. In many temples in S India they close down completely for example even though the September 7, 2006 eclipse is only a very partial eclipse (less than 20%) the Balaji temple is closing. I do not know what standards the Gaudiya Vaisnavas follow for such events but I suppose that this is the time to find out.
Your humble servant
Shyamasundara Dasa
Space Weather News for March 1, 2007
http://spaceweather.com
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: Set aside some time this weekend for sky watching. On Saturday night, March 3rd, there's going to be a total eclipse of the Moon. This means the Moon will glide through the heart of Earth's shadow and turn a beautiful shade of sunset red. Totality can be seen from parts of all seven continents including all of Europe and Africa and the eastern half of North America.
Visit http://spaceweather.com for observing tips, maps and links to live webcasts.
Lunar Eclipse Gallery (photos from a similar eclipse in 2004): http://spaceweather.com/eclipses/gallery_27oct04_page2.html
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