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Eclipse

by Alma Nuradnan Pramudita

Science Education and Empowerment Center


Bandung
May 2010
 What is Eclipse?
 How Could Eclipse Occur?
 What is the Mechanism of Lunar Eclipse?
 What is the Mechanism of Solar Eclipse?
 How do We Observe Solar Eclipse?
 Is There Eclipse Other Than On Earth?
At-Most-Fear!
(pronounced like “atmosphere”)
It Should Be Like This

(Lykaestria)

With eyes, Sun appears yellowish-white. Sun emits


various coloured lights, but combination of those
lights appears white.
It Should Be Like This
Moon is a distinguishible object on night sky, with
sequence of daily variation in appearance.

Spanning 29 or 30 days, rise time and appearance of


Moon vary. Moon rises after Sun when the arc faces west.
Moon rises while Sun sets when the disk is full. Moon
rises
before Sun when the arc faces east.
(Luc Viatour)

(Wikimedia Commons)
It Should Be Like This

Moon is at east of Sun and


sets after Sun does.

Moon rises/sets when


Sun sets/rises.

Moon is at west of Sun and


sets before Sun does.
But Why Is It Like This

There are times when Sun’s disk obscured,


although the rays are still detectable. Image to
the left was taken at total solar eclipse in
France, 1999.

The obstruction of glaring Sun’s rays enables us to see


(Luc Viatour)
Sun’s features, like prominence and corona.
But Why Is It Like This

(Luc Viatour)

Sequence of variation in apperance of Moon’s disk


at total lunar eclipse. Totality is shown at lower right.
Reason, Reason, Reason
They Said That ...

“Moon God is attacked by demon.” (Sumerian legend)

“Hungry monster devours Moon.” (Babilonian legend)

“Desert God and Sky God are fighting.” (Ancient Egypt Legend)

“A dragon devours Sun." (Ancient China legend)

“A monster takes revenge over punishment sentenced to him.“


(Ancient India legend)

Amanda Kelly, The Eclipse: Myths and Legends (Sunday Mirror, 18 Juli 1999,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19990718/ai_n14495447)
The Truth is Right There
Right Here, Now, We Said ...

“Simply and clearly, Solar Eclipse is when Sun is


blocked by Moon, while lunar eclipse is when
Moon enters Earth’s shadow, no more no less.“
(said men ever saw directly or indirectly, like astronomers and astronauts)
01) Angle Size
One of measures in sky observation is size. The problem is that apparent size of celestial objects
depends on their distance. For an object, the further it is, the smaller the apparent size. To put
distance out of consideration, we may define angle size. Angle size is the measure of minimum angle
to cover the apparent size of an object.

In the case below, a leaf is 5 cm long, seen at 20 cm away. Draw the situation, and with protractor,
measure the angle size of the leaf!

5 cm
20 cm
About the Moon
At Eclipse

(Sagredo)
Full Moon and Eclipse
(Tomruen)

(Luc Viatour)

(Luc Viatour)

Moon eclipse happens when Moon is behind Earth, aligned with Sun and Earth. Meanwhile,
this configuration is also the configuration of full Moon. It can be concluded that not every
full
Moon is eclipse. How could it be?
Full Moon and Eclipse

(NASA)

(Wikimedia Commons)

While revolving, Earth forms orbital plane, called ecliptic. Of course Sun is in the plane too. Meanwhile,
Moon’s
orbit is not in the same plane with Earth’s. Moon’s orbital plane is inclined by 5° to the ecliptic. This is the very
reason that not every full Moon is eclipse.
Glowing in Blockage

EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

REFRACTION EFFECT

Some light fall on Moon’s surface.

(Tomruen)
Glowing in Blockage

EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

SCATTERING EFFECT

The bluer the light, the more it is


scattered. The light fall on Moon
is mainly red.
(Tomruen)
02) Eclipse
This the the continuation of the last case. This time, we have another leaf, 2,5 cm long. By adjusting
the small leaf’s position between observer and big leaf, measure how far it is from observer to cover
the entire length of the big leaf!

5 cm
20 cm

2,5 cm
About the Sun
At Eclipse

(Sagredo)
At Eclipse
(Sancho Panza)

Sometimes at eclipse, the disk is not blocked


entirely; the rim is still visible. This is annular
solar eclipse. The cause is that Moon is at
furthest from Earth so it doen’s block entire
Sun’ disk.
Don’t Try This At Home!
(Kalan) Sequence of solar eclipse photos at
Novosibirsk, Russia, August 1st 2008.
The photos are taken with special filter.

DO NOT EVER look at solar eclipse


directly with eye without specialized
filter!
NORMAL CONDITION AT ECLIPSE

Environment is dark, but even the rim


of Sun’s disk is still too bright to be
Sun is too bright to look at with eyes.
gazed at.

Eyes think situation is safe because eyes


calculate the average of brightness in the
For this situation, humans are given field. Combination of maximum brightness
two reflect mechanisms, those are 1) with much darkness yields not-too-bright
shutting eyelids and/or 2) turning the environment average.
face.

Shutting eyelids and/or turning face


reflects are shut off.

Eyes are safe and sound. Farewell, my lovely sight.


Try This At Home!

(Mila Zankova)

The safest way to observe solar eclipse is by projecting it.


Gossiping Our Neighbours
On Mars

(Opportunity)

(Cornell Univ./NASA/JPL)

Solar eclipse on Mars; Sun is partially blocked by


Phobos, one of Mars’ satellites.
On Jupiter
Solar eclipse on Jupiter by one of its
satellites, Io. Photo taken with Hubble.

(NASA)

(J. Spencer/NASA/ESA)
On Saturnus

Saturn’s rings appear so bright, litted by Sun in


background. Image taken with Cassini-
Huygens (NASA)
spacecraft.

(NASA/JPL)
Home Sweet Home

(NASA)

Solar Eclipse on Turk, March 29th 2006. Image


is taken from International Space Station (ISS).
03) Eclipse Period
Eclipse repeats every 6585,3213 days. At January 26th 2009 07:59:45 GMT, annular solar
eclipse happens. Calculate when the earliest annular solar eclipse happens! Also, estimate whether
the eclipse happens at same location as before or not!
Terima Kasih
gocodealpha@yahoo.com
gocodealpha.blogspot.com

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