In 1715, the famous English astronomer and astrophysicist Edmund Halley witnessed a total solar eclipse and claimed that “he cold and the moisture joined the darkness “, causing “some horror” among viewers.
It is now known that when the Moon blocks sunlight completely, the meteorological variables of temperature, relative humidity and pressure change.
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But how cold is it all at once in areas of total darkness? ¿Is need to bring an extra coat?
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As explained by NASA, the decrease is equivalent to the difference in temperature that exists between day and night at that time of year for that place.
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For example, during the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, a group of scientists measured the temperature at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, USA and discovered that The phenomenon caused a drop of 3,5°C.
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According to the research, led by physicist Jennifer Fowler, this “drop in temperature is within the range recorded in previous studies.”
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2. “Eclipse wind”
The darkness brings another change in the atmosphere: the so-called “eclipse wind.”
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According to a study published in 2016 by the University of Reading (United Kingdom), “as the Sun disappears behind the Moon, the ground cools abruptly, just as it does at dusk,” said one of the research leaders. , atmospheric physicist Giles Harrison.
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“This means that hot air stops rising from the ground, causing a drop in wind speed and a change in its direction“he added.
When the light returns, the wind blows again as before.
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3. Solar radiation in plants
“As the partial eclipse becomes total, the solar radiation in a given location will decrease more than three times faster than during a normal sunset, possibly unleashwill bring unique responses from plants“, reports NASA on its website.
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It clarifies “possibly” because the subject has not been systematically studied.
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For example, last month the magazine Nature published the results of a University of Wyoming study conducted during the August 2017 total solar eclipse, which analyzed its effects on Artemisia tridentata, a particular type of shrub whose popular name in English would be translated as “great mugwort”.
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“The reduction in temperature and the lack of sunlight impacted the circadian clock of the great mugwort, sparking a response far beyond what happens when clouds block sunlight, “Daniel Beverly, lead author of the study, told the journal Scientific Reports.
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“However, the duration of the totality of the eclipse was not long enough for the plants to be completely brought into their nocturnal state“he continued.
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At the site where Beverly’s team made their measurements, the total solar eclipse lasted 2 minutes 18 seconds. In this Tuesday’s eclipse, the maximum time of totality exceeded 2 minutes 30 seconds.
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4. Animal behavior
According to NASA, “In many eclipses it has been reported that many different animals startle with totality and change their behavior thinking that twilight has arrived“.
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However, as with plants, most data on animal behavior are anecdotal and isolated.
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During total solar eclipses, diurnal birds go out in search of the nest, while nocturnal birds begin their activity. Credit GETTY IMAGES
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To begin to change this, during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, in addition to analyzing atmospheric phenomena, Fowler’s team teamed up with the iNaturalist organization to conduct a citizen survey of animal behavior.
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Among the more than 2,700 comments they received, there were some repeated trends.
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For example, in the case of birds, “a few people observed swallows or swifts that began to gather in flocks and fly during the eclipse“iNaturalist reported.
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As for insects, “many people heard that the cicadas stopped singing and the crickets started To do it (during the total solar eclipse), and then reversed when full coverage ended! “
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And of the domestic animals, iNaturalist noted that “many noticed their chickens gathering or resting and becoming quiet during the eclipse, while many people also noticed that their roosters started crowing during the eclipse.”
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Is it true that goats pass out during eclipses? No, it is a myth. Credit GETTY IMAGES
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On the other hand, it is often said that, when the Moon covers the Sun in broad daylight, goats faint.
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The phenomenon even has its own word in English: goatality, a neologism that combines the words goat (“goat”) and fatality (“fatality”).
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However, although it sounds like a lot of fun, he goatality it’s false, as the BBC itself found during a live coverage from a goat farm in the aforementioned eclipse of 2017.
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