Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Partial solar eclipse over North America

Brain&Force - 21-10-2014 at 10:03

I don't know if I can see this one. I don't have eclipse glasses or #14 welder's glass - and my classes seem to be scheduled during the eclipse. Binocular projection seems like a good idea, and I'll be looking for a suitable telescope. But I think I'll have 40% coverage for this one. Canada and Alaska will fare better for this one.

Here's the coverage map:
<img src="http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEanimate/SEanimate2001/SE2014Oct23P.gif" title="Europe is outta luck.">

There's also a REALLY MASSIVE sunspot on the sun right now (AR12192), which will likely be visible easily with only eclipse glasses:

<img src="http://www.spaceweather.com/images2014/21oct14/hmi1898.gif" title="I can't remember a larger sunspot." width=800>

Who else is going to try to watch this one?

Amos - 21-10-2014 at 10:30

Maximum eclipse coincides with sunset for me, which would probably look spectacular. I'll definitely try to see it if I remember to.

Metacelsus - 21-10-2014 at 11:47

Same here. I'll see it even if I don't remember to look for it!

Chemosynthesis - 21-10-2014 at 15:47

I will be on the lookout.

Ozone - 21-10-2014 at 15:58

It looked good until about 2:30pm, but it's been storming ever since. GAH!

O3

Jameson - 23-10-2014 at 00:18

Sky spectacle: Partial solar eclipse coming Thursday
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY 1:22 p.m. EDT October 22, 2014

Don't forget to look up Thursday.

In the afternoon, a partial solar eclipse — where the moon covers a part of the sun — will be visible across much of the USA, barring any pesky clouds that could block the show.

The eclipse will occur over most of North America — except for a small slice of eastern Canada and eastern New England, said meteorologist Joe Rao of Space.com.

In most areas, about half the sun will be covered, with the northern USA seeing about 65% of the sun covered and theSouthern states closer to 40%, reports Universe Today, an online astronomy site.

Overall, the farther west and north you are the better, Sky and Telescope magazine reports. In the West, the entire eclipse will happen while the sun is still fairly high in the afternoon sky: In Los Angeles, for example, NASA says the eclipse will start at 2:08 p.m. PT and will end at 4:40 p.m. PT.

In most of the eastern half of the USA and Canada, the eclipse will still be in progress at sunset — offering dramatic views if you can find a low western horizon, according to Sky and Telescope. In New York City, the eclipse starts at 5:49 p.m. ET and will last until the sun sets at 6:03 p.m. ET.

Resources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/22/partial-solar-...
http://www.scienceclarified.com/Di-El/Eclipse.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141021-solar...

violet sin - 23-10-2014 at 00:59

rain rain and rain. right now, tomorrow and tomorrow night. not to mention I will be working the whole time. but I will definitely step out from time to time just to make sure I'm not missing any thing.

Ozone - 23-10-2014 at 11:32

The weather has improved, and the sky looks clear (against the earlier forcast)! So, I'll be checking it out indirectly with a pin-hole, and directly with a phosphorus-emission line filter from an FPD.

Bonus!

O3

First eclipse image from Minneapolis

Metacelsus - 23-10-2014 at 13:26

4:25 pm:



Photo on 10-23-14 at 4.25 PM.jpg - 275kB

Note the small chunk out of the sun.

5:00 p.m.:

Photo on 10-23-14 at 5.00 PM #2.jpg - 268kB

[Edited on 23-10-2014 by Cheddite Cheese]

gdflp - 23-10-2014 at 14:02

Damn it, it's cloudy:mad: Just like the two recent lunar eclipses.:(

Metacelsus - 23-10-2014 at 15:19

After 5:00 the sun went behind some trees, and I couldn't get any more pictures.

Texium - 23-10-2014 at 15:20

I just looked at it with some eclipse glasses. It looks great!
The big sunspot was also visible.

[Edited on 10-23-2014 by zts16]

DraconicAcid - 23-10-2014 at 16:10

I managed to see it, but by the time I got my kids out to take a look, the cloud cover had gotten just a bit too thick.

violet sin - 23-10-2014 at 16:15

I saw absolutely nothing :( :( :( raining all day, and not even a break in the clouds for a moment over the jobsite... I had hoped perhaps the cloud cover would have thinned enough to act as partial filter with witch to view in relative ease. but no.. on the bright side, I at least felt better KNOWING it was going on regardless of ability to view instead of finding out several days later. my coworkers didn't seem to terribly impressed with the event even if it had been visible( just waiting to go home and have a beer was the consensus of today's brief conversation). in fact they thought it odd that I stayed up late for the last lunar eclipse, when i brought it up.

arkoma - 23-10-2014 at 19:18

Phoenix was clear and dry. No one missed a THING. Non event US west coastal area. The effective brightness outside never even dimmed that I could notice.

Brain&Force - 23-10-2014 at 19:38

You could have done pinhole projection - I could see it just fine with two pieces of paper. (I also utilized tree projection and bare hand projection!) Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pics posted. A partial eclipse like this one doesn't cause enough of a dimming for anyone to notice, usually.

[Edited on 24.10.2014 by Brain&Force]

arkoma - 23-10-2014 at 21:23

Meh, I still have good flicks of the 2010 partial.

Metacelsus - 24-10-2014 at 04:14

I noticed the son get dimmer in Minneapolis around sunset. I estimate the sun was 40-50 percent occluded.

[Edited on 24-10-2014 by Cheddite Cheese]