The Motion of the Celestial Spheres?
Roger Waters ends the Pink Floyd masterpiece “Dark Side of the Moon” with the words:
All that is now
All that is gone
All that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon
If you have not heard, Western New York will be in the path of a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 and our friends at 97 Rock will have time to play the Eclipse song twice as darkness fills the sky for nearly four minutes except for an eerie glow from the Sun’s corona.
Even though a solar eclipse involves our sun, it is not an event that takes place “when the stars align.” Although rare, eclipses are not unexpected or nearly impossible. The motion of the Sun and Moon in relation to the earth could be calculated by even the Ancient Greeks and Romans and eclipses could be predicted by at least 700 BCE. But there is nothing resembling the belief of many ancient astronomers that there are concentric spheres that move around the earth as you can see in the diagram below.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are in alignment. The rays of the Sun create a full shadow (called the Umbra) and a partially shaded area (called the Penumbra). Much of North America will experience a partial eclipse as the moon will block out only a portion of the sun from their viewing angle. Here in Buffalo, we will gradually lose slivers of the sun beginning at 2:04 pm leading up to the full eclipse at 3:18 pm. Starting at 3:22 pm, the sun will slowly return to our afternoon sky with the partial eclipse ending at 4:32 pm.
During an eclipse event, you need to remember one rule. It is never safe to look directly at the Sun, even if it is partially obscured. To view the eclipse safely, you need to wear eclipse glasses at all times if you want to look at the Sun. Don’t think that your high-tech sunglasses will be good enough to watch the eclipse. Eclipse glasses have special filters that block 100 percent of the infrared and ultraviolet light. They also block almost all of the Sun’s visible light. You won’t be moving around much because you won’t be able to see anything other than the Sun.
Even though they have special lenses, solar glasses are an inexpensive way to save your retinas. $10 will buy you five pairs right now on Amazon. If you have kids, you can go old school and view the eclipse through a pin hole camera or take them to the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buff State or the Space Lab Planetarium at Williamsville North High School (hopefully, the Kellogg Observatory at the Buffalo Museum of Science will also be open for this). Resist the urge to use a camera, binoculars or a telescope during the eclipse, even if you have your eclipse glasses on. The lenses on these devices will intensify the Sun’s rays and damage your eyes.
Tomorrow, we’ll explore what regional planners will be working with for our time (not) in the sun.
See Part I – Is this a Curse on Our Region?
Eclipse Timing for the Buffalo Area:
The moon’s shadow will be moving from the southwest toward the northeast. Exact local times will vary depending on your location.
Partial eclipse begins a little after 2:00 pmTotality will begin at about 3:15 pm, depending on your locationTotality will last about 3 mins and 45 secs if you are on the centerlineThe farther you are from the centerline, the shorter totality will lastSun Altitude 45 deg & Azimuth: 226 degPartial eclipse ends at about 4:30 pmOverall eclipse duration: 2h 27m
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