For those who are fascinated by astronomy, the upcoming Monday will bring real excitement. On this day, there will be a total solar eclipse, which will be fully visible only in North America.
The solar eclipse will begin in the Pacific Ocean, near the Kiribati islands. A few minutes after 12 p.m. local time (which in Poland is after 8 p.m.), this phenomenon will be visible from Mexico. After 1:30 p.m., the eclipse will appear over Texas and will then be visible in other US states, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and Maine. Later it will be visible along the border with Canada.
The eclipse will not be visible in Poland
As Karol Wójcicki informs on his blog “With your head in the stars”, “The eclipse will end at 21:35:55 (Polish time) in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. This will allow you to observe its partial form, e.g. in Iceland. Residents of Ireland and parts of Spain “They will be able to see a very shallow partial eclipse just before sunset. However, this will be an extreme sport.”
The upcoming solar eclipse will be a real phenomenon for astronomy enthusiasts, among other things, because of its length. The total eclipse phase will last about 4.5 minutes in Mexico, and slightly shorter in the US, shortening on the way to Canada, where it will last 3.5 minutes.
Jabłeka points out that an even more fascinating and longer eclipse will occur in 2027, when it will pass through the northern part of Africa, including Egypt. “The maximum of the eclipse will be visible mainly on the Nile. There, the maximum phase of the eclipse will last as long as 6.5 minutes,” he says.
The length of the eclipse depends on the ratio of the distances of the Moon and the Sun from the place of observation. “When the Moon is closest to the Earth, i.e. it appears to be the largest in the sky and the Earth is farthest from the Sun, then it will have a larger disk than the Sun’s and will cover the star longer” – explains Jabłeka.
The longest solar eclipse in history
In 1973, scientists extended the duration of the total eclipse to 74 minutes by flying almost as fast as the Moon’s shadow moving across the Earth.
JSX is running a special eclipse flight over Dallas, and both United Airlines and Delta have long sold out regular Path of Totality flights on routes from Texas to the Northeast.
But no one will come close to achieving what Concorde 001 achieved on June 30, 1973, when it raced with the moon’s shadow along the Tropic of Cancer during a total solar eclipse.
Flying at an altitude of 17,000 meters, the world’s fastest supersonic jet increased its full-state duration from a maximum of 7 minutes and 4 seconds on the ground to a staggering 74 minutes.
Not only the eclipse is visible
This year’s eclipse will also be unique because when it is completely obscured, you will be able to see virtually all the planets visible to the naked eye, as well as the “horned comet.”
“When the Sun is covered by the Moon, Venus will be visible on the right side, west of the Sun. It will reach magnitude 4, which means it will be a very bright point in the sky. On the other side, twice as far away as Venus, there will be Jupiter, shining only a little fainter. At a similar distance to Jupiter, but on the Venus side Mars and Saturn will also be visible – close to each other. Mercury will also be visible nearby,” Jabłeka describes.
Solar eclipses can occur when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun and completely or partially covers the solar disk. In this configuration, the Moon is in a new moon, but not every new moon has an eclipse, because the orbit of the Earth’s natural satellite is slightly tilted relative to the plane of our planet’s orbit and the Moon in the sky is usually above or below the solar disk.
Total eclipses are the most spectacular, but – unfortunately – they are visible only in a quite narrow band with a maximum width of 270 km, on average it is about 100 km. Further away from it, only a partial eclipse is visible.
We will probably not see a total solar eclipse in Poland again
For any given point on Earth, total eclipses are very rare. In Poland, the last total eclipse was visible in 1954 (Suwałki, Sejny), and the next one will be in 2135. Earlier, in 2075 and 2093, we will have annular eclipses in Poland. Performances rather for our grandchildren.
People who will have the opportunity to watch the eclipse live should remember to prepare appropriately. Ordinary sunglasses are not enough. Looking directly at the Sun can seriously damage your eyesight. There are, for example, special glasses with a certified filter for observing solar eclipses available on the market, and you can also use Mylar solar filters. However, the safest method is to project the image of the Sun onto a screen using, for example, a telescope or binoculars.
sources: PAP, space.com, opening photo: Total eclipse seen from the plane – NASA
