Starship Asterisk*

Southern Annular Eclipse

Explanation: It's eclipse season, and on April 29 around 06:00 UT the shadow of the new Moon will reach out and touch planet Earth, though only just. Still, if you're standing on the continent of Antarctica within a few hundred kilometers of 79 degrees 38.7 minutes South latitude and 131 degrees 15.6 minutes East longitude you could see an annular solar eclipse with the Sun just above the horizon. Because the Moon will be approaching apogee, the most distant point in the elliptical lunar orbit, its apparent size will be too small to completely cover the solar disk. A rare, off-center eclipse, the annular phase will last at most 49 seconds. At its maximum it could look something like this "ring of fire" image from last May's annular solar eclipse, captured by a webcast team operating near Coen, Australia. Otherwise, a partial eclipse with the Moon covering at least some part of the Sun will be seen across a much broader region in the southern hemipshere, including Australia in the afternoon.

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Well, at least many penquins and a Nitpicker will get to see it.

I'll be lucky to see much of it from Brisbane. Further south and/or west seem like the better places in Oz.

[magical thinking] Regardless, I've learnt to express indifference for upcoming celestial events, as enthusiasm seems to attract inclement weather. [/magical thinking]

In case anyone is planning to observe from Antarctica, I just checked in Stellarium and the location given in the APOD caption: "79 degrees 38.7 minutes South latitude and 131 degrees 15.6 minutes East longitude", seems too far south for the Sun to be above the horizon. Better to be on the Antarctic coast, directly south of Perth, say.

Awesome!!!


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Nitpicker wrote:[magical thinking] Regardless, I've learnt to express indifference for upcoming celestial events, as enthusiasm seems to attract inclement weather. [/magical thinking]

We have found that the more you plan and prepare for an event the more likely the weather will not cooperate.

Beautiful photo today as always APOD.

LocalColor wrote:

Nitpicker wrote:[magical thinking] Regardless, I've learnt to express indifference for upcoming celestial events, as enthusiasm seems to attract inclement weather. [/magical thinking]

We have found that the more you plan and prepare for an event the more likely the weather will not cooperate.

Beautiful photo today as always APOD.

I just hope for the best, make reasonable preparations and contingency plans, and try to appreciate whatever comes my way. Clouds can be interesting. A hot cup of tea and the company of friends are always consolations.

Currently at least this APOD is dated 2014 April 25 when it should be 2014 April 26. I thought I would mention this but I apologise if I should have directly contacted someone, but I was unsure who so I thought I would mention it in this discussion about this APOD.

DavidLeodis wrote:Currently at least this APOD is dated 2014 April 25 when it should be 2014 April 26. I thought I would mention this but I apologise if I should have directly contacted someone, but I was unsure who so I thought I would mention it in this discussion about this APOD.

I mailed them for you.

geckzilla wrote:

DavidLeodis wrote:Currently at least this APOD is dated 2014 April 25 when it should be 2014 April 26. I thought I would mention this but I apologise if I should have directly contacted someone, but I was unsure who so I thought I would mention it in this discussion about this APOD.

I mailed them for you.

Thanks geckzilla.

Here are the best pics I could manage of today's eclipse, taken from my backyard in Brisbane, during a cloudy sunset:

Nice, Nitpicker; thanks for sharing them!

You might notice there appears to be a gap in the clouds between my 2nd and 3rd images, above. It was during this optimal time, that I attached a solar filter to my 300mm lens. I got a few shots with the filter, and they would have been fantastic, too, but whilst I was faffing around getting the exposure just right, I failed to notice that I'd lost sharp focus. (I would starve if I became a professional photographer.) Still, this one has a certain aesthetic appeal ... maybe: