Starship Asterisk*

[quote=Aristo post_id=309084 time=1608326470]Yes, I meant them. Wow![/quote]

Wow indeed. Those prominences and coronal mass ejections shoot huge amounts of solar material out into the solar system. And they don't even have a NASA to help do that! It is amazing! It seems to be done, somehow, by the sun's magnetic field: which is very similar to the Earth's magnetic field in average strength! But the Earth is solid (near its surface at least) while the Sun is almost completely ionized gas, core to surface.

Yes, I meant them. Wow!

[quote=Aristo post_id=309081 time=1608320634]
This is a great picture. I was wondering what the flame-like things on the surface of the Moon are.
[/quote]

Do you mean the red prominences around the edges? They're on the Sun, not the Moon.

[float=right][img3=Comparison of minimum and maximum apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon (and planets). An annular eclipse can occur when the Sun has a larger apparent size than the Moon, whereas a total eclipse can occur when the Moon has a larger apparent size.]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Comparison_angular_diameter.svg/800px-Comparison_angular_diameter.svg.png[/img3][/float][quote="Chris Peterson" post_id=309080 time=1608317035 user_id=117706]
[quote="DL MARTIN" post_id=309078 time=1608315098]

Question: Is it pure coincidence that the moon covers the sun so precisely?[/quote]

Yes. It didn't in the past, and it won't in the future.[/quote]
[b]We should have full total eclipses for the next 600 million years.
.........................................................
The apparent size of the Moon varies from
6% larger to 10% smaller than the Sun :arrow:

[list=][size=150]1.06 = 33.5'/31.6'
0.90 = 29.43'/32.7'[/size][/list]Assuming an a priori random (geometric) variation of apparent sizes over a scale of [color=#0000FF]~12,800,000 ( = [1.06/0.90][sup]100[/sup])[/color] there is [u][color=#0000FF]about a 1% chance[/color][/u] of the Sun & Moon being such a "perfect" match.

[color=#0000FF]Ergo: it is a coincidence... but not that much of one.[/color][/b]

This is a great picture. I was wondering what the flame-like things on the surface of the Moon are.

[quote="DL MARTIN" post_id=309078 time=1608315098]
Question: Is it pure coincidence that the moon covers the sun so precisely?
[/quote]

Yes. It didn't in the past, and it won't in the future.

Question: Is it pure coincidence that the moon covers the sun so precisely?

I’m glad [i]someone[/i] got to see this one in person.

[attachment=0]2020Dec14TSE_Ribas_IMG_9291c1024.jpg[/attachment]


Pretty Diamond Ring Effect! String of beads also! :wink: The clouds
make it even nicer!

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201218.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_201218.jpg[/img] [size=150]Diamond in the Sky[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] When the shadow of the Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere on December 14, [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190704.html]sky watchers[/url] along the shadow's dark [url=https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2020Dec14T.GIF]central path[/url] were treated to the only total solar eclipse of 2020. During the [url=https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/south-american-total-solar-eclipse-december-14]New Moon's shadow play[/url] this glistening diamond ring was seen for a moment, even in cloudy skies. Known as the [url=http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/eclipse/observeeclipses/chapter9.htm]diamond ring effect[/url], the transient spectacle actually happens twice. Just before and immediately after totality, a thin sliver of solar disk visible behind the Moon's edge creates the appearance of a shiny jewel set in a dark ring. This dramatic snapshot from the path of totality in northern Patagonia, Argentina captures this eclipse's second diamond ring, along with striking solar prominences lofted beyond the edge of the Moon's silhoutte.


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