BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Two eclipses - wow? excitement?

Well, tomorrow there is a Friday the 13th solar eclipse complete with supermoon. Some folk seem to think this is very exciting.

For myself, Friday the 13th has no special meaning and it certainly means nothing astronomically.

The new moon is especially close to Earth, so tides will be higher. Don't park too close to a tidal river! There are places along the Thames where incautious drivers regularly park too close close to the river, even where there are warning signs about tides. Here is a picture of a BMW having been lifted onto a barge after its river trip at high tide. Comment from one local: "I didn't know BMW made submarines."

The partial eclipse is very partial - maximum 21% and that's at a few research stations in Antarctica. In addition to a bit of Antarctica, there's Tasmania, a New Zealand island, and a little strip of southernmost Australia. it's only a few percent partial in those places. With eclipse glasses someoney might see some small change in the Sun, but mostly people won't even notice it's happening.

The (very) partial solar eclipse happened early this morning. Here is an animation showing the eclipse path. The gray cloud shows the path of the eclipse. You can see it just skimmed south Australia, most of it being over water. It took in the southeaster coast of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand's Steward Island and the north coast of Antarctica.

I wonder if anyone will put any pictures up.

I want to see pics!

Eclipse photo. Found one! Here is the partial solar eclipse in northern Tasmania, Australia.

Photo by Peter Sayers.

We've had the just-barely solar eclipse. On July 27th, the lunar eclipse happens.

Imagine the horror: Something is eating the Moon, leaving its face covered in blood. This was how people once viewed lunar eclipses. Find out what actually causes a lunar eclipse, why the Moon may turn red during an eclipse, and where a lunar eclipse becomes a solar eclipse.

Lunar Eclipses

You can find out more about the color changes in lunar eclipses in Blood Moons and Lunar Tetrads.

The lunar eclipse on July 27 will be a good one for those who can see it. It's the longest eclipse of the 21st century. Here's an eclipse map that will show where the eclipse is visible, depending on the weather etc. You can also put in your location to get more information.

But, note to readers in North America . . . . You got some good eclipses during the lunar tetrad, but this one isn't visible anywhere in North America.

It's a tradition in Britain that should there be an interesting astronomical event, the sky will be completely clouded out. Even when there's been a month's heatwave with mostly clear or partly clear skies, on the night of the event, it must be hidden! And so it was. However the lunar eclipse of the century was visible elsewhere.

Here is the eclipsed moon over the Qolşärif mosque in Russia.

Photograph: Yegor Aleyev/TASS

Lunar eclipse and Mole Antonelliana (Turin, Italy). Photo by Stefano De Rosa

What an incredible photograph.