Archive for October, 2010
A Few Noteworthy Books About Solar Eclipses
There are literally thousands of titles pertaining to the phenomena of solar eclipses (and no, we’re not referring to the eclipse vampire series), with a few titles worth mentioning as follows: Eclipses: Predicting World Events & Personal Transformation by Celeste Teal illustrates how recent and historical events can be linked directly to eclipses. While eclipses are often mentioned in monthly horoscopes, no other book Read the rest of this entry »
Three Most Commonly Asked Questions About Eclipses
What happens more often, solar or lunar eclipses?According to Fred Whipple’s book Earth, Moon and Planets, solar eclipses are fairly numerous, about 2-5 per year, but the area on the ground covered by totality is only a few miles wide. In any given location on Earth, a total eclipse happens only once every 360 years. Eclipses of the Moon by the Earth’s shadow are actually less numerous than solar eclipses; however, each eclipse covers about one half the surface of the Earth. At any given location, you can have up to three lunar eclipses per year, but some years there may be Read the rest of this entry »
What Are Shadow Bands?
Shadow bands are among the most ephemeral phenomena that observers see during the few minutes before and after a total solar eclipse.Simply stated, they are the wavy lines of alternating Read the rest of this entry »
Ancient Egyptian History Pertaining to Eclipses
Nearly all we know about ancient Egyptian civilization’s knowledge of astronomy comes to us from tomb paintings, various temple inscriptions, and a handful of papyrus documents such as the Rhind Papyrus.Unfortunately, the Great Library in Alexandria was Read the rest of this entry »
Some Fun Facts About Solar Eclipses
- The longest duration for a total solar eclipse is 7.5 minutes.
- A total solar eclipse is not noticeable until the Sun is more than 90 percent covered by the Moon. At 99 percent coverage, daytime lighting resembles local twilight.
- Eclipse shadows travel at 1,100 miles per hour at the equator and up to Read the rest of this entry »