Total Eclipse!

On Friday, 1st August 2008, there is going to be a total eclipse of the sun. Unfortunately, you will need to be in the arctic or northern china to see it, but most people in Europe should be able to see a partial eclipse. You can see an image of the path that the full eclipse will take here:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2008/TSE2008iau/TSE2008-fig02.GIF

This photo of the 1999 eclipse was by Luc Viatour.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Solar_eclips_1999_4.jpg

If you aren't in the right part of the world to see this one yourself, there are websites that will be showing the full eclipse. Scientific American has lots more details here:
http://www.sciam.com/report.cfm?id=solar-eclipse&sc=rss

If you are eclipse watching, remember not to look directly at the sun, especially through binoculars! For safe ways to view the eclipse, have a look here:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=tips-for-eclipse-watchers

This is a photo by NASA was taken from the Mir space station of the Aug. 11, 1999 eclipse.




An eclipse of the sun happens when the path of the moon takes it directly between the earth and the sun. Essentially, the earth passes through the shadow of the moon. This is different to a lunar eclipse, when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth.

The shadow you can see is the area labelled the umbra in the diagram to the left. In this shadow is where you can see a total eclipse. Outside the umbra, in the penumbra, is where you will see a partial eclipse. If you have protective glasses, you should see a crescent shaped sun.

Happy watching!