The Solar Eclipse - January 2010
On Friday January 15th 2010 we'll have an annular eclipse in a track about 300 kms wide that starts in central Africa, crosses the Indian ocean, then continues through Bangladesh and India and on to China via Myanmar.Outside that central path a partial eclipse will be apparent in a wide area including eastern Europe, most of the African continent and large parts of Asia.Solar eclipses are fascinating, they occur when the moon passes between the earth and the sun forming a shadow over part of the earth below. It happens during a new moon when the sun and moon are in conjunction as observed from earth.A shadow is cast behind the moon which consists of a dark inner shadow known as the umbra and a lighter outer shadow known as the penumbra. Where the dark umbra falls, a total eclipse is observed. Areas shaded by the lighter penumbra see a partial eclipse. Eclipses cannot occur at every full moon as usually the moon is not in direct line between the earth and the sun so the moons shadow falls above or below earth.Of course the moon is not always the same distance from earth as its orbit is elliptical so at certain times it is nearer the earth than at other times. When it is nearer earth at the time of an eclipse it appears to blot out the sun completely which we call a total eclipse. When it's not so close it does not quite cover the sun from view and leaves a ring of sun showing around the moon, which we call an annular eclipse.In ancient times eclipses were somewhat magical events which many saw as bringing bad luck and misfortune. The wise old astronomers who managed to work out the patterns and predict future eclipses were thought of as very wise future tellers.These days we understand eclipses as part of the perfectly normal movement of our portion of the solar system. That does not stop us being fascinated by them some of us even travel around the world to observe and photograph them.
See photos and video of solar eclipses at The Next Solar Eclipse or if you are interested in astronomy you might like to check out How to Identify Stars and Planets Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aidan_James
Neat little trick for viewing a solar eclipse on a budget
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The Solar Eclipse - January 2010
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