Solar Eclipse 1 August 2008,theory and LIVE

Hi SEARCH FREAK Friends. Today i come up with this year full SOLAR ECLIPSE, this historical moment occurring on 1 August 2008(Solar Eclipse). Here i am giving you few information, video, images, data, and links to enjoy this year 1 August 2008 Solar Eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. At least two and up to five solar eclipses occur each year on Earth, with between zero and two of them being total eclipses. Total solar eclipses are nevertheless rare at any location because during each eclipse totality exists only along a narrow corridor in the relatively tiny area of the Moon's umbra.A total solar eclipse is a spectacular natural phenomenon and many people travel to remote locations to observe one. In ancient times, and in some cultures today, solar eclipses have been attributed to supernatural causes. Total solar eclipses can be frightening for people who are unaware of their astronomical explanation, as the Sun seems to disappear in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.

See the right hand side image of The Sun while occurring Full Solar Eclipse (Time shown into the pic. are old. )

There are four types of solar eclipses:

1)A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark silhouette of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible. During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth.

2)An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, surrounding the outline of the Moon.

3)A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather rare.

4)A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface. The match between the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon during a total eclipse is a coincidence. The Sun's distance from the Earth is about 400 times the Moon's distance, and the Sun's diameter is about 400 times the Moon's diameter. Because these ratios are approximately the same, the sizes of the Sun and the Moon as seen from Earth appear to be approximately the same: about 0.5 degree of arc in angular measure.

See the image here showing full solar eclipse.The best site i found explaining Solar Eclipse is named as "Solar Eclipse for Beginners".

I will request you to visit the site as it is very well designed and easy to understand, author had done good work.Click here to visit this site http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html An eclipse when the Moon is near its closest distance from the Earth (i.e., near its perigee) can be a total eclipse because the Moon will appear to be large enough to cover completely the Sun's bright disk, or photosphere; a total eclipse has a magnitude greater than 1.The Earth's orbit around the Sun is also elliptical, so the Earth's distance from the Sun varies throughout the year. This also affects the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon, but not so much as the Moon's varying distance from the Earth. When the Earth approaches its farthest distance from the Sun (the aphelion) in July, this tends to favor a total eclipse. As the Earth approaches its closest distance from the Sun (the perihelion) in January, this tends to favor an annular Solar Eclipse.The Moon's orbit around the Earth is inclined at an angle of just over 5 degrees to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic). Because of this, at the time of a new moon, the Moon will usually pass above or below the Sun.

A solar eclipse can occur only when the new moon occurs close to one of the points (known as nodes) where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic.As noted above, the Moon's orbit is also elliptical. The Moon's distance from the Earth can vary by about 6% from its average value. Therefore, the Moon's apparent size varies with its distance from the Earth, and it is this effect that leads to the difference between total and annular eclipses. The distance of the Earth from the Sun also varies during the year, but this is a smaller effect. On average, the Moon appears to be slightly smaller than the Sun, so the majority (about 60%) of central eclipses are annular. It is only when the Moon is closer to the Earth than average (near its perigee) that a total eclipse occurs. In any given year, there will always be at least two solar eclipses, and there can be as many as five. However, some are visible only as partial eclipses, because the umbra passes above Earth's north or south pole, and others are central only in remote regions of the Arctic or Antarctic. During a central eclipse, the Moon's umbra (or antumbra, in the case of an annular eclipse) moves rapidly from west to east across the Earth. The Earth is also rotating from west to east, but the umbra always moves faster than any given point on the Earth's surface, so it almost always appears to move in a roughly west-east direction across a map of the Earth (there are some rare exceptions to this which can occur during an eclipse of the midnight sun in Arctic or Antarctic regions). The total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes at that location, as the Moon's umbra moves eastward at over 1700 km/h. Totality can never last more than 7 min 31 s, The next eclipse exceeding seven minutes in duration will not occur until June 25, 2150. The longest total solar eclipse during the 8,000-year period from 3000 BC to 5000 AD will occur on July 16, 2186, when totality will last 7 min 29 s.The longest eclipse of the 21st century will occur on July 22, 2009 and last 6 min 39 sec. In this year total solar eclipse is on 1 August 2008.

See the animated Solar Eclipse of this year 1 August 2008

is here you can see the full solar eclipse how travelling

along a path on Earth.

Another picture is also showing the 1 August 2008 Total Solar Eclipse in the form of Geocentric Coordinates.

In this picture you will be able to see through which coordinates this Full Solar Eclipse is passing.

1) NASA is going to show the live 1 August 2008 Solar Eclipse on NASA TV or NASA.GOV on the Internet.. here is the link.

Click on the link to see the 1 August 2008 Solar Eclipse http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/on_demand_video.html?param=http://anon.nasa-global.edgesuite.net/anon.nasa-global/ccvideos/GSFC_20080715_SolEclipsePromo.asx&_id=137607&_title=See%20The%20Aug.%201%20Solar%20Eclipse%20on%20NASA%20TV%20and%20NASA.gov&_tnimage=259985main_solarpromo_100.jpg

2) Next is the video explaining the Solar Eclipse Mechanics of Solar Eclipse.Click on the link to see the Solar Eclipse mechanics. http://sunearthday.gsfc.nasa.gov/2008eclipse/mechanics.php

3) Next is the link showing you the Google map covering the Total Solar Eclipse path on the earth

Click the link to see the Solar Eclipse path on the world map.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2008Aug01Tgoogle.html

4) Next link which gives you all the data of Solar Eclipse in the year 2001-2020 with google map.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001.html

5) Next link shows you the chart of 1 August 2008 Solar Eclipse with longitude, latitude, magnitude, and duration.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpath/SEpath2001/SE2008Aug01Tpath.html

WARNING:

Here i will warn you not to see the Solar Eclipse directly through your eyes, nor through telescope, and binoculars. Looking directly to solar eclipse is unsafe.It is only safe to do so during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, annular eclipses and the partial phase of a total eclipse are never safe to view directly without taking precautions. Even when most of the sun is obscured during the partial phase of a total solar eclipse, the portion which remains in sight is very bright and can not be viewed without eye protection. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness! So i will not be responsible in such cases.You can google with search terms like "viewing solar eclipse methods" to know the proper method of looking at Solar Eclipse.

So my friends enjoy the 1 August 2008 Solar eclipse, with safe view or viewing on your TV sets or viewing online.

For my Indian friends;

The eclipse commences at 1.34 p.m. IST, when the shadow of the moon first touches the Earth at a point in the North Atlantic Ocean near New Found land in Canada. The eclipse will end at 6.08 p.m. in the Bay of Bengal close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The total phase starts at 2.53 p.m. IST at a point close to southeastern coast of Victoria Island in northern Canada. The total phase will end at 4.50 p.m. IST at a point near southeast China. The biggest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.040 takes place at 3.51 p.m. IST at a point close to Nadym in northern Russia. The period of the total phase at this point is 2 minutes 30 seconds. Another total solar eclipse will occur on 22 July 2009. The path of the totality of the same eclipse will pass through India.