At the begin of the Shemittah-Year. A harbinger?:
The partial eclipse of Oct. 23rd 2014 will be visible from all of the United States except Hawaii and New England. Coverage ranges from 12% in Florida to nearly 70% in Alaska. Weather permitting, almost everyone in North America will be able to see the crescent.
"Observers in the Central Time zone have the best view because the eclipse is in its maximum phase at sunset," says Espenak. "They will see a fiery crescent sinking below the horizon, dimmed to human visibility by low-hanging clouds and mist".
Visibility map
At the same time:
MONSTER SUNSPOT: The biggest sunspot of the current solar cycle is turning toward Earth. This morning when astronomer Karzaman Ahmad of Malaysia's Langkawi National Observatory looked through the eyepiece of his solar telescope, he declared AR2192 a "monster" and snapped this picture:
This behemoth active region is 125,000 km wide, almost as big as the planet Jupiter. These dimensions make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes--hence so many pictures in the realtime photo gallery.
A few days ago, AR2192 unleashed an X1-class solar flare. Since then the sunspot has almost doubled in size and developed an increasingly unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field. It would seem to be just a matter of time before another strong explosion occurs. NOAA forecasters estimate at 60% chance of M-class flares and a 20% chance of X-flares on Oct. 21st.
23 degree bulls horn
This eclipse will be the fourth and final of 2014. In April, there was a total lunar eclipse on the 15th and the annular solar eclipse on the 29th. This month, there was a total lunar eclipse on October 8, with the partial solar on the 23rd. Both lunar events were considered “Blood Moons.” This year also plays host to five “supermoons,” when the orb appears to be bigger and brighter than normal during its full moon phase.
While this year has been an exciting one for professional astronomers and amateur stargazers alike, 2017 promises to be an even better one, when the first total eclipse of the sun to be visible from the contiguous 48 states in nearly four decades will sweep in an east-southeast direction from Oregon to South Carolina. “So, for many, Oct. 23 will provide a rehearsal for the [next] big event" on August 21, 2017.
The partial eclipse of Oct. 23rd 2014 will be visible from all of the United States except Hawaii and New England. Coverage ranges from 12% in Florida to nearly 70% in Alaska. Weather permitting, almost everyone in North America will be able to see the crescent.
The eclipse will be especially beautiful in eastern parts of the USA, where
the Moon and sun line up at the end of the day, transforming the usual sunset
into something weird and wonderful.
"Observers in the Central Time zone have the best view because the eclipse is in its maximum phase at sunset," says Espenak. "They will see a fiery crescent sinking below the horizon, dimmed to human visibility by low-hanging clouds and mist".
Visibility map
At the same time:
MONSTER SUNSPOT: The biggest sunspot of the current solar cycle is turning toward Earth. This morning when astronomer Karzaman Ahmad of Malaysia's Langkawi National Observatory looked through the eyepiece of his solar telescope, he declared AR2192 a "monster" and snapped this picture:
This behemoth active region is 125,000 km wide, almost as big as the planet Jupiter. These dimensions make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes--hence so many pictures in the realtime photo gallery.
A few days ago, AR2192 unleashed an X1-class solar flare. Since then the sunspot has almost doubled in size and developed an increasingly unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field. It would seem to be just a matter of time before another strong explosion occurs. NOAA forecasters estimate at 60% chance of M-class flares and a 20% chance of X-flares on Oct. 21st.
23 degree bulls horn
This eclipse will be the fourth and final of 2014. In April, there was a total lunar eclipse on the 15th and the annular solar eclipse on the 29th. This month, there was a total lunar eclipse on October 8, with the partial solar on the 23rd. Both lunar events were considered “Blood Moons.” This year also plays host to five “supermoons,” when the orb appears to be bigger and brighter than normal during its full moon phase.
While this year has been an exciting one for professional astronomers and amateur stargazers alike, 2017 promises to be an even better one, when the first total eclipse of the sun to be visible from the contiguous 48 states in nearly four decades will sweep in an east-southeast direction from Oregon to South Carolina. “So, for many, Oct. 23 will provide a rehearsal for the [next] big event" on August 21, 2017.
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