Starship Asterisk*

Solar Eclipse from a Ship

Explanation: Along a narrow path that mostly avoided landfall, the shadow of the New Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere on April 20 to create a rare annular-total or hybrid solar eclipse. From the Indian Ocean off the coast of western Australia, ship-borne eclipse chasers were able to witness 62 seconds of totality though while anchored near the centerline of the total eclipse track. This ship-borne image of the eclipse captures the active Sun's magnificent outer atmosphere or solar corona streaming into space. A composite of 11 exposures ranging from 1/2000 to 1/2 second, it records an extended range of brightness to follow details of the corona not quite visible to the eye during the total eclipse phase. Of course eclipses tend to come in pairs. On May 5, the next Full Moon will just miss the dark inner part of Earth's shadow in a penumbral lunar eclipse.

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futurejohn wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 2:47 pm The main image link to the full resolution picture is not loading.

Works for me!

All right, so why is it obvious that eclipses tend to come in pairs? (I think I've asked this before but don't recall an answer...)

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:14 pm All right, so why is it obvious that eclipses tend to come in pairs? (I think I've asked this before but don't recall an answer...)

Eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in the same plane... and those relative angles don't change very much in just two weeks between a full moon (lunar eclipse) and new moon (solar eclipse).

Kudos to Fred Espenak For a lovely photo of this eclipse!

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:26 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:14 pm All right, so why is it obvious that eclipses tend to come in pairs? (I think I've asked this before but don't recall an answer...)

Eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in the same plane... and those relative angles don't change very much in just two weeks between a full moon (lunar eclipse) and new moon (solar eclipse).

Ah, thanks.

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:22 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:26 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:14 pm All right, so why is it obvious that eclipses tend to come in pairs? (I think I've asked this before but don't recall an answer...)

Eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in the same plane... and those relative angles don't change very much in just two weeks between a full moon (lunar eclipse) and new moon (solar eclipse).

Ah, thanks.

And now the obvious follow-up question is: how would the frequency of solar eclipses change if the Moon orbited in the same exact plane as the Earth and Sun?

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:06 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:22 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:26 pm
Eclipses happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in the same plane... and those relative angles don't change very much in just two weeks between a full moon (lunar eclipse) and new moon (solar eclipse).

Ah, thanks.

And now the obvious follow-up question is: how would the frequency of solar eclipses change if the Moon orbited in the same exact plane as the Earth and Sun?

Then every new moon would be a solar eclipse and every full moon would be a lunar eclipse.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:18 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:06 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:22 pm

Ah, thanks.

And now the obvious follow-up question is: how would the frequency of solar eclipses change if the Moon orbited in the same exact plane as the Earth and Sun?

Then every new moon would be a solar eclipse and every full moon would be a lunar eclipse.

Cool. Makes sense. Perhaps if we lived in such an alternate reality, eclipse photos would comprise many fewer APODs!