Total Solar Eclipse, 1st Aug 2008

[Dollsworth]

A total solar eclipse occurs on Friday, 1 August, 2008, in northern Canada, the Arctic, and Asia.

It is known as the China Olympic Total Solar Eclipse because a week later the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will begin.

The eclipse begins in far northern Canada, at about 21:24 NZTime; the zone of totality is 206km wide, and the eclipse will last for 1 minute 30 seconds. The track then heads north-east, crossing northern Greenland at about 21:30, and passes near the pole before dipping down into Russia.

The eclipse reaches the Russian mainland at 22:10 NZTime, with a path 232km wide, and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds. Greatest eclipse occurs shortly after, at 22:21 NZTime, when the path will be 236km wide, and the duration up to 2 minutes 27 seconds.
The path then moves south-east, crossing into Mongolia and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 22:58 NZTime. The path here is 252km wide, but the duration is down to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then runs down the China-Mongolia border, ending in China at 23:18 NZTime, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset.

The partial eclipse will be visible over north-eastern Canada, most of Asia and Europe, and the Middle East between 20:04:07 NZTime and 00:38:28 NZTime.

For New Zealand and Australia, unfortunately the eclipse is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere and therefore you will not see anything. This is also due to the fact that it will be after sunset when the eclipse occurs. The UK itself will only see a partial eclipse, with a maximum of 30% of the Sun covered around 10.15am in the morning (UK Time/BST).

This animation shown illustrates the motion of the shadow of the Moon at five minute intervals - it shows the grey penumbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as a partial one and the much smaller black umbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as a total one. The clock is in UT, which is 12 hours behind NZTime and 1 hour behind BST.



More information:
Hermit Eclipse: Total Solar Eclipse: August 1 2008
Total Eclipse of the Sun: 2008 August 01

[TokWW]

That's impressive virtualisation from that site. Nice full moon out there last night though! Despite the cloud cover, we could still see it, and our dog stayed up barking till 3am until I let her off for a run and tied her back up again! Lack of responsibilitioes from the teenagers not caring for her I think. Hmmm.

[ATO2]

A nice visualisation, that. So we should see some posts of shots of a partial eclipse from Kent, then?

[Dollsworth]

Originally Posted by ATO2

A nice visualisation, that. So we should see some posts of shots of a partial eclipse from Kent, then?

not sure about the solar eclipse but i think i will be able to for the lunar one Fortunately i had booked that evening off work for my cousins birthday (you know the usual kiddies party). So i shall set up my SLR and telescope in their garden, they have fantastic views living right on the edge of a village across fields, looks fantastic there in the winter. So yes hopefully some shots The solar eclipse I'm working at the time (~10.15am) so i cannot escape might have to sneak out for a peek

[Grant]

Originally Posted by Dollsworth

Fortunately i had booked that evening off work for my cousins birthday (you know the usual kiddies party).

Don't forget your jelly and ice cream

[Dollsworth]

Hmm my attempts weren't that good, it was predominately cloudy and right at the peak there was a light shower!!
Still, the red image is mine (using a red filter) and the much better photo was taken by another member of MWF whom I have permission to post here (full image and comments: aug 1st eclipse - Midlands Weather Forum Galleries)

[Grant]

Nice pics and something exclusive for the August Photo comp

[Dollsworth]

Originally Posted by Grant

Nice pics and something exclusive for the August Photo comp

I'm waiting for the lunar eclipse on August 16th - it's almost a total one, should be some good photos up and down the country (weather permitting) as the same amount of the moon is covered everywhere unlike the solar eclipse where it varies depending on location

[TokWW]

Thanks! We had a good eclipse of the moon last year, 27 Aug 2007 and I really struggled to get good pictures of it... the red one is during the full eclipse. you can get camera shake too easily despiute using a tripod - I needed a remote shutter control.

[Dollsworth]

Originally Posted by TokWW

Thanks! We had a good eclipse of the moon last year, 27 Aug 2007 and I really struggled to get good pictures of it... the red one is during the full eclipse. you can get camera shake too easily despiute using a tripod - I needed a remote shutter control.

the 2nd photo is roughly what we're expecting on 16th, with a slither of white in the top/top-right corner, otherwise darker perhaps a dusty colour too (if the skies are clear that is)