Showing posts with label Journey Into The Sun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journey Into The Sun. Show all posts

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely)

Map showing the path of totality for the Aug. 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. Credit: Fred Espenak/NASA GSFC
On Aug. 21, 2017, American skywatchers will be treated to a rare and spectacular celestial show — the first total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States in nearly four decades.

Next year's "Great American Total Solar Eclipse" will darken skies all the way from Oregon to South Carolina, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this "path of totality" for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience, said eclipse expert Jay Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College in Massachusetts.

"It's a tremendous opportunity," Pasachoff told Space.com. "It's a chance to see the universe change around you.

A total solar eclipse last darkened soil on the U.S. mainland on Feb. 26, 1979. But August 2017 will mark the first time in 99 years that such an event is "readily available to people from coast to coast," Pasachoff said.

Total Solar Eclipse 2017 Photo: Eclipse2017.org


A rare event

The fact that total solar eclipses occur at all is a quirk of cosmic geometry. The moon orbits an average of 239,000 miles (384,600 kilometers) from Earth — just the right distance to seem the same size in the sky as the much-larger sun

But most solar eclipses are of the partial variety, in which the moon appears to take a bite out of the sun's disk. Indeed, two to five solar eclipses occur every year on average; total eclipses happen just once every 18 months or so. (Eclipses are relatively rare because the moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees relative to that of Earth. If the two bodies orbited in exactly the same plane, a solar eclipse would occur every month, during the moon's "new" phase.)

How Solar Eclipses Work: When the moon covers up the sun, skywatchers delight in the opportunity to see a rare spectacle. See how solar eclipses occur in this Space.com infographic. Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

Furthermore, the narrow path of totality is often inaccessible to skywatchers — most of Earth is covered by water, after all — so a total solar eclipse that occurs over populated areas is quite special. Indeed, the August 2017 event will be the first one whose totality path lies completely within the United States since 1776, experts have said.

That path goes from the Oregon coast through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. While just 12 million people or so live within the narrow band, perhaps 220 million reside within a day's drive of it, according to Space.com skywatching columnist Joe Rao. [Incredible Solar Eclipse View Shot During Alaska Airlines Flight (Video)]

Pasachoff advises folks to make that drive when the time comes.

"Though the rest of the continental U.S. will have at least a 55 percent partial eclipse, it won’t ever get dark there, and eye-protection filters would have to be used at all times even to know that the eclipse is happening. The dramatic effects occur only for those in the path of totality," Pasachoff said in a statement.

"If you are in that path of totality, you are seeing the main event, but if you are off to the side — even where the sun is 99 percent covered by the moon — it is like going up to the ticket booth of a baseball or football stadium but not going inside," he added.

Pasachoff himself plans to be there. He has observed 63 solar eclipses to date, and not just for fun: The events provide a rare opportunity to study the sun's wispy outer atmosphere, which is called the corona. (The sun's overwhelming brightness usually drowns out the faint corona.)

Temperatures in the corona top 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius), making the region much hotter than the solar surface, which is just 11,000 degrees F (6,000 degrees C) or so. How the corona gets so hot has puzzled scientists for decades, and Pasachoff and his colleagues aim to gather some useful data during the Great American Eclipse.

"How energy is injected into the corona is one of the things we'll be investigating," Pasachoff told Space.com.


Be safe!

If you do plan to observe the August 2017 eclipse, remember: NEVER look directly at the sun without proper eye protection, except when the solar disk is completely occluded (during the brief period of totality); serious and permanent eye damage can result.

"Proper eye protection" includes specially made solar filters, eclipse glasses or No. 14 welder's glass. You can also observe the eclipse indirectly, by making a pinhole camera or watching shadows cast by trees. (The gaps between leaves act as natural pinholes.)

You should never look directly at the sun, but there are ways to safely observe an eclipse. See how to safely observe a solar eclipse with this Space.com infographic. Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

To learn more about how to safely observe the sun, check out this Space.com infographic.

Safely See the Sun – Build a Shoebox Pinhole Camera


Finally, if you miss out on the August 2017 event, don't despair — you'll get another chance seven years later. In 2024, a total solar eclipse will darken the skies above Mexico and Texas, up through the Midwest and northeastern U.S

Other articles on the same theme:





Story source: 
 
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Space. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Three major events were recently observed on the Sun's surface. What might happen to the Earth during the fol, VIDEO


























Updated 02/05/2020


See the most detailed picture of the Sun's surface ever taken.The new Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope will let us study the Sun in unprecedented detail.

astronomy.com


Beginning on Friday, the sun produced the largest flares since April
The strongest of the three, M7.6, peaked at 1:16 am on July 23
Two flares orginated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex
Although the sun is in a period of low activity, it isn’t staying completely quiet.
Over the weekend, the 4.5 billion year old ball of gas produced three mid-strength solar flares that have been deemed the most powerful to occur in 2016.

Captured by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, these flares were classified as M-level flares -- the category just below the most intense X-class flares.





































TRIPLE WHAMMY FLARES 

Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory saw the sun produce three mid-strength solar flares that have been deemed the most powerful for 2016 over the weekend.
These flares were classified as M-level flares -- the category just below the most intense X-class flares.

Beginning on Friday June 22,  the sun produced the largest explosions since April – which was kicked-off by an M5 at 10:11pm EST.

Following behind was the strongest of the three, M7.6, which peaked at 1:16am on July 23 and the grand finale was an M5.5 – it reached its height just 15 minutes after the second flare.
These two orientated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex, which is a region of the sun known for its powerful magnetic fields. 

Two years ago, scientists warned that the sun’s activity was the lowest it has been in 100 years.
Researcher believe the solar lull could cause major changes, and say there is a 20% chance it could lead to 'major changes' in temperatures. ‘M-class’ flares are deemed ‘medium’ flares that just fall short of the most intense category, ‘X-class’.


But this weekend provided the Solar Dynamics Observatory team with quite a show.
Beginning on Friday, the sun produced the largest explosions since April – which was kicked-off by an M5 at 10:11 pm EST in the Active Region 12567



Following behind was the strongest of the three, M7.6, which peaked at 1:16 am on July 23 and the grand finale was an M5.5 – it reached its height just 15 minutes after the second flare.
These two originated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex, which is a region of the sun known for its powerful magnetic fields. Solar flares are brief, powerful eruptions of radiation that occur on the surface of the sun.Although harmful, the radiation from a flare is not capable of passing through Earth’s atmosphere.However, they are strong enough to disrupt the atmosphere in the layer where our GPS and communication signals travel.



Source: Dailymail