SkyEye

Eclipses

A solar eclipse occurs when the new Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth. There are three types of solar eclipses: annular, partial, and total.

A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon are not quite lined up. In this case, the Moon covers only a section of the Sun. This kind of eclipse usually goes unnoticed by most people on Earth because the sunlight is scarcely dimmed.

A total solar eclipse, however, is much more spectacular. At totality, the disc of the Sun is completely obscured by the new Moon, and only the ghostly solar corona and perhaps gigantic solar flares are visible around the edges of the Moon. Those parts of the Earth experiencing totality become very dark and it is possible to see stars in the sky.

An annular solar eclipse is similar to a total eclipse except that the new Moon is near apogee and its disc appears slightly smaller than that of the Sun. Thus, a bright ring or annulus of the solar disc remains at maximum eclipse, and the sky does not become dark.

There are at least two and sometimes as many as five solar eclipses every year. Why don't we have a solar eclipse during every new Moon? This is because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is at an angle to the ecliptic. The new Moon usually passes above or below the Sun as seen from the Earth and thus there is no eclipse. The proper alignment for a solar eclipse occurs only a few times a year.

Another kind of eclipse is a lunar eclipse which occurs when the Moon passes through the shadow cast by the Earth. A lunar eclipse only occurs when the Moon is full and for the same reasons given above, happens only two or three times a year.

A lunar eclipse may be total, partial or penumbral. A total lunar eclipse causes the full Moon to slowly darken as it enters the umbra of the Earth and at totality, the Moon may take on a dark coppery colour. During a partial lunar eclipse, the Moon does not fully enter the umbra of the Earth. A penumbral lunar eclipse is likely to go unnoticed as the Moon passes through the Earth's penumbra and does not dim a great deal.

WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye!

Use proper solar filters or better yet, project the image of the Sun onto a white piece of paper. However, it is completely safe to view a lunar eclipse with the naked eye.

Eclipses in the Year 2009

Annular Solar Eclipse : 26 January
WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye!
The annular eclipse will be visible from parts of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia. Southern Africa, Madagascar, southeast India, southeast Asia, Indonesia and nearly all of Australia will be able to see a partial eclipse.
04:57 UT	The partial eclipse begins.
06:03 UT	The annular eclipse begins.
07:55 UT	New Moon.
07:59 UT	Greatest eclipse: magnitude = 0.928.
09:55 UT	The annular eclipse ends.
11:41 UT	The partial eclipse ends.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse : 9 February
The entire eclipse will be visible from Alaska, northwest Canada, the western Pacific Ocean, Australia and New Zealand, eastern India and all parts of Asia westwards. Observers in North America (except the east coast) will see the eclipsed Moon set whilst the eclipse will be in progress at moonrise for western India, the Middle East, the eastern half of Africa, western Russia and much of western Europe.
12:39 UT	The penumbral eclipse begins.
14:38 UT	Greatest eclipse: penumbral magnitude = 0.899
14:49 UT	Full Moon.
16:38 UT	The penumbral eclipse ends.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse : 7 July
With such a small penumbral magnitude, this eclipse will be undetectable to the naked eye.
08:33 UT	The penumbral eclipse begins.
09:21 UT	Full Moon.
09:39 UT	Greatest eclipse: penumbral magnitude = 0.156
10:44 UT	The penumbral eclipse ends.
Total Solar Eclipse : 21-22 July
WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye!
The path of totality begins in India and then moves across China and a few Japanese islands (including Iwo Jima) before entering the Pacific Ocean. Since perigee occurs just hours before the beginning of the eclipse, the path of totality will be wider than usual. Major Chinese cities in the path of totality include Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan and Shanghai. A partial eclipse will be seen in southeast Asia, Indonesia and the southern Pacific Ocean.
23:58 UT	The partial eclipse begins.
00:51 UT	The total eclipse begins.
02:34 UT	New Moon.
02:35 UT	Greatest eclipse: magnitude = 1.08.
04:19 UT	The total eclipse ends.
05:12 UT	The partial eclipse ends.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse : 5-6 August
Like the very shallow penumbral lunar eclipse in July, this one is invisible to the naked eye.
23:01 UT	The penumbral eclipse begins.
00:39 UT	Greatest eclipse: penumbral magnitude = 0.428
00:55 UT	Full Moon.
02:17 UT	The penumbral eclipse ends.
Partial Lunar Eclipse : 31 December
This very minor eclipse will be visible from all of Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Iceland, Greenland, northern Canadian islands and most of Africa except the southern and western parts as well as the Indian Ocean. Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia will see the eclipsed Moon set whilst the parts of Africa that don't see the entire eclipse will see it in progress when the Moon rises. Eastern Brazil and northeastern Canada will also see the eclipsed Moon rise.
17:15 UT	The penumbral eclipse begins.
18:52 UT	The partial eclipse begins.
19:13 UT	Full Moon.
19:22 UT	Greatest eclipse: umbral magnitude = 0.0820.
19:54 UT	The partial eclipse ends.
21:30 UT	The penumbral eclipse ends.

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