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Help Needed
Can any astronomy buffs help me out with astronomy questions? Is it
possible for someone in England and South Africa to see an eclipse at the same time? I say no because the two countries are in different hemispheres? Am I right. Thanks in advance |
#2
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Solar: No
Lunar: Yes "scratch azazel" wrote in message ... Can any astronomy buffs help me out with astronomy questions? Is it possible for someone in England and South Africa to see an eclipse at the same time? I say no because the two countries are in different hemispheres? Am I right. Thanks in advance |
#3
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Mark C wrote:
"scratch azazel" wrote in message ... Can any astronomy buffs help me out with astronomy questions? Is it possible for someone in England and South Africa to see an eclipse at the same time? I say no because the two countries are in different hemispheres? Am I right. Solar: No Usually, but not quite always. On the occasions when the path of totality passes nearly halfway between the two locations, a partial eclipse will sometimes be visible from both. Here's a map of the annular solar eclipse scheduled for 3 October 2005: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2005Oct03A.gif, which will be visible both from the UK and (just barely) from the northern part of South Africa; picturing a similar occasion but where the maximal point is just a little to the south, you can see that both countries could fall entirely within the moon's penumbra, albeit not quite at the same time. On 29 March 2006 there will be a total eclipse, visible as a partial from Iceland to Angola: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2006Mar29T.gif; this 'near miss' would become a 'hit' were its path shifted just a few degrees to the south-by-southeast. (An explanation of these maps may be found at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/SEplotkey.html.) But what with the eighty-odd-degree difference in latitude I don't think it's possible for the moon's *umbra* to cross both countries, so they can't both experience the same total or annular solar eclipse as such. Lunar: Yes Certainly. The longitudes of the two locations aren't far apart, so they should have similar views of most lunar eclipses. -- Odysseus |
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"scratch azazel" wrote in message
... Can any astronomy buffs help me out with astronomy questions? Is it possible for someone in England and South Africa to see an eclipse at the same time? I say no because the two countries are in different hemispheres? Am I right. What kind of eclipse, solar or lunar? |
#5
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An eclipse of the moon can be seen if 1) the moon is above the horizon at
both places. And 2) the diclination of the moon can be seen from both places. One has to go far North and the other far soulth before the diclination factor comes into play. A eclipse of the sun is not seen over a wide area. So in that case thay can not see the same eclipse. |
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