Solar eclipse diagram physics. Why does a solar eclipse occur? Phenomena during a solar eclipse
Slide text: Presentation on the topic: Solar eclipse Presentation prepared by: Mirabova Ira
Slide text: Eclipse When moving around the Earth, the Moon passes in front of more distant luminaries and with its disk can obscure them. This phenomenon is generally called the occultation of luminaries by the Moon. Determining the exact moments of the beginning and end of the occultations is of great importance for studying the movement of the Moon and the shape of its disk. Occultations of stars occur most often; occultations of planets occur less frequently.
There are four different types of solar eclipses: Partial eclipse, Annular eclipse, Total eclipse and Hybrid eclipse. A partial solar eclipse occurs when only part of the Sun is covered by the Moon, which appears to "bite" out of the Sun. This is the general view of a partial eclipse.
Partial eclipses occur when the Moon's umbral shadow passes the Earth and only its penymbral shadow falls on the Earth's surface. In this case, the umbral shadow will either pass through the north or south poles of the Earth. Note that the region of Earth that falls within the penumbra region will experience a partial eclipse.
Slide text: Occultations of the Sun by the Moon are called solar eclipses. A solar eclipse looks different at different points. earth's surface. The solar disk will be completely closed only to an observer located inside the cone of the lunar shadow, the maximum diameter of which on the Earth's surface does not exceed 270 km. In this relatively narrow region of the earth's surface, where the shadow of the Moon falls, a total solar eclipse will be visible (Fig. 59). In areas of the earth's surface where the penumbra of the Moon falls, a partial solar eclipse will be visible inside the so-called cone of lunar penumbra - the disk of the Moon will cover only part of the solar disk. The closer the observer is to the axis of the shadow, the most of The solar disk is closed, the greater the eclipse phase. Outside the penumbra cone, the entire disk of the Sun is visible, and no eclipse is observed.
Within the punumbral region, the Sun is partially covered, and in varying degrees of dim light. A partial eclipse begins at the beginning of first contact and the beginning of the third contact of a total eclipse, where it appears as a crescent moon, like in the picture above. A partial eclipse also always accompanies a total eclipse, falling on large area surface of the Earth.
Observers outside the path of totality or annularity during a total or annular eclipse may also experience a partial eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the center of the Sun is covered by the moon, leaving its edges uncovered, creating a ring of the Sun around its edges.
Slide text: Since the distance of the Moon from the Earth varies from 405,500 km to 363,300 km, and the length of the full shadow cone from the Moon is on average 374,000 km, the apex of the lunar shadow cone sometimes does not reach the Earth’s surface. In this case, for an observer near the axis of the lunar shadow cone, the solar eclipse will be annular - the edges of the solar disk will remain uncovered and will form a thin shiny ring around the dark disk of the Moon.
Annular eclipses occur when the moon appears smaller than the sun. But the moon is exactly opposite the sun. Observers in the foaming region experience a normal partial eclipse instead. In an annular eclipse, you don't see any of the "special effects" of a total eclipse, such as the crown or diamond ring effect. The thin sliver peeking out around the moon is too bright to do that.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely covered by the Moon. In a total solar eclipse, the moon in its elliptical orbit passes between the Sun and the Earth at a point where it is also very close to the Earth. When this happens, a shadow is cast on the surface of the Earth. The umbral portion of the moon's shadow is the area where the Sun is completely occluded by the moon.
Slide text: At different points on the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs at different time. Due to the movement of the Moon around the Earth and the rotation of the Earth around its axis, the shadow of the Moon moves along the Earth's surface approximately from west to east, forming a strip of shadow several thousand kilometers long and an average width of about 200 km (maximum width 270 km).
A hybrid eclipse is a fairly rare event. A hybrid or annular or total eclipse is one that is seen as an annular eclipse by observers in one part of the Earth and at the same time seen as a total eclipse by others in another part of the Earth. The diagrams below show how a hybrid eclipse forms.
The Moon is quite far from the Earth, but Umrah cannot reach the sides of the Earth. When an eclipse occurs West Side Earth will see an annular eclipse. Observers in the outer parts of the eclipse trail will witness an annular eclipse. An eclipse is annular when it begins and ends. However, as a result of the curvature of the Earth's surface, the Moon's apparent size increases in size until it is large enough to produce a total eclipse.
Slide text: Since the Moon moves from west to east, a solar eclipse begins with western edge solar disk. First, damage appears on it in the form of an arc of a circle with a radius equal to the radius of the solar disk. Then the damage gradually increases, and the Sun takes the shape of a narrower and narrower crescent. When the last point of the solar disk disappears, the total eclipse phase begins, which lasts only a few minutes - no more than seven, and most often two or three minutes. Then the dark disk of the Moon gradually leaves the solar disk, and the eclipse ends. The total duration of all phases of a solar eclipse can last over two hours. It is clear that solar eclipses can only occur during the new moon.
Observers in the blue highlighted area will witness a total eclipse. The eclipse remains a total eclipse until the end of the eclipse, when it turns back into an annular eclipse. Hybrid eclipses always have short durations of annular and total eclipse phases.
Decisive factors for the type of solar eclipse. The type of eclipse that occurs depends on several things. First, if an eclipse occurs when the sun is further away from the node, it is more likely that the eclipse will be partial. All we've ever seen is part of the sun. Remember that the orbits of the Earth and Moon are not perfect circles, but rather ellipses. Notice that in the diagram above the earth is sometimes closer to the sun and sometimes farther away. The same is true for the moon - sometimes it is closer to the earth, and sometimes further away.
Eclipse- an astronomical situation in which one celestial body blocks the light from another celestial body.
Most famous lunar And solar eclipses. There are also such phenomena as the passage of planets (Mercury and Venus) across the disk of the Sun.
Moon eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon enters the cone of the shadow cast by the Earth. The diameter of the Earth's shadow spot at a distance of 363,000 km (the minimum distance of the Moon from the Earth) is about 2.5 times the diameter of the Moon, so the entire Moon may be obscured.
As you can see, the sun and moon change their distances significantly. The moon changes by about 14 percent, and we change our distance to the sun by about 3 percent. This makes the sun and moon appear larger and smaller at different times. If we are far from the sun to make it appear smaller and close to the moon to make it appear larger, the moon will be able to cover the entire face of the sun as seen from the earth and we will see a total eclipse. Table 1A below. In this case, it's like trying to cover pennies with pennies.
You will see a copper penny ring sticking out from all sides of the penny. This happens with the sun and moon. Orbital conditions of the Earth and Moon for solar eclipses. Speakers: Randy Atwood, Mississauga Centre, and Michael Watson, Toronto Centre. The path of totality cuts diagonally from Oregon to South Carolina. Millions of people will be on the way. Thousands of Canadians will travel to this event. This conversation will propose a plan for observing and photographing the eclipse.
Lunar eclipse diagram
At each moment of the eclipse, the degree of coverage of the Moon's disk by the earth's shadow is expressed by the eclipse phase F. The magnitude of the phase is determined by the distance 0 from the center of the Moon to the center of the shadow. Astronomical calendars give the values of Ф and 0 for different moments of the eclipse.
For those not traveling on the path of totality, the partial eclipse from Mississauga will be spectacular. 75% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon at maximum eclipse. Precautions for viewing the eclipse will be presented. The presenters saw several dozen eclipses and shared their experiences with advice for those planning to travel to the central line.
The evening will cover all aspects of observing, enjoying, photographing and preparing for an experience that will last a short two minutes. Randy Atwood is currently the Executive Director of the Royal Astronomical Association of Canada, Canada's national astronomy organization. He is the founder and honorary president of the Mississauga Center of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and former president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
When the Moon completely enters the Earth's shadow during an eclipse, it is said to be total lunar eclipse, when partially - about partial eclipse. Two necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurrence of a lunar eclipse are the full moon and the proximity of the Earth to lunar node.
Discoveries made thanks to solar eclipses
He is a resident of Mississauga and has been looking at the night sky for over 40 years. He is the president of the Earth Astronomy and Space Science Organization, Mississauga, a non-charitable organization that runs public outreach programs in Mississauga. He photographed 12 space shuttle launches and landings as a journalist and photographer. He visited different places around the world to observe and photograph total solar eclipses. He wrote textbooks on astronomy high school in astronomy and introduced planetarium programs to schools.
As can be seen for an observer on Earth, on the imaginary celestial sphere the Moon crosses the ecliptic twice a month at positions called nodes. The full moon can fall on such a position, on a node, then a lunar eclipse can be observed. (Note: not to scale)
Full eclipse
A lunar eclipse can be observed over half of the Earth's territory (where the Moon is above the horizon at the time of the eclipse). The appearance of the darkened Moon from any observation point differs negligibly from another point, and is the same. The maximum theoretically possible duration of the total phase of a lunar eclipse is 108 minutes; These were, for example, the lunar eclipses of July 26, 1953, and July 16, 2000. In this case, the Moon passes through the center of the earth's shadow; total lunar eclipses of this type are called central, they differ from the non-central ones in the longer duration and lower brightness of the Moon during the total phase of the eclipse.
The asteroid was renamed Asteroid Atwood in his honor. Michael Watson is well known in the community as an astrophotographer. The meeting is open to the public and free of charge. Exit Mississauga Road. The park in Lot 4 or the park across from the fitness center south of the Davis Building. Enter the fitness center, go up the stairs until you reach the main hallway, then turn right. Look for the Mississauga sign in front of the lecture room.
Meeting Plans: We usually continue the discussion after meeting at a local bar - join us! When they do, they will witness one of the rarest natural phenomena on the planet. The effect it has on you is bizarre and primal, says Woody Sullivan, a University of Washington professor, astronomer emeritus and five-time solar eclipse observer. "It only lasts two minutes, but you have this feeling that you are truly part of the cosmos."
During an eclipse (even a total one), the Moon does not disappear completely, but turns dark red. This fact is explained by the fact that the Moon continues to be illuminated even in the phase of total eclipse. The sun's rays passing tangentially to the earth's surface are scattered in the earth's atmosphere and due to this scattering they partially reach the moon. Since the earth's atmosphere is most transparent to rays of the red-orange part of the spectrum, it is these rays that reach the surface of the Moon to a greater extent during an eclipse, which explains the color of the lunar disk. Essentially, this is the same effect as the orange-red glow of the sky near the horizon (dawn) before sunrise or just after sunset. To estimate the brightness of an eclipse it is used Danjon scale.
How special is this event? So you're not left in the dark, we've pulled from UW's deep passion and experience to put together some comprehensive resources to help make your eclipse experience memorable and safe. We'll start by looking at some frequently asked questions.
So what is a total solar eclipse?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly between the sun and the earth. The diameter of the sun is approximately 400 times greater than that of the moon; the sun is also about 400 times. This means that when you look at the sky, both appear to be about the same size. In contrast, during partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is at the outermost part of its orbit around the Earth and therefore has too small an apparent angular size to cover the entire disk of the Sun, leaving a ring of the Sun's surface around the Sun's surface when the sun, moon and observer are on the Earth's surface.
An observer located on the Moon, at the moment of a total (or partial, if he is on the shadowed part of the Moon) lunar eclipse sees a total solar eclipse (eclipse of the Sun by the Earth).
Danjon scale used to estimate the degree of darkening of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. Proposed by astronomer Andre Danjon as a result of research into such a phenomenon as ashen moonlight when the Moon is illuminated by light passing through the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The brightness of the Moon during an eclipse also depends on how deeply the Moon entered the Earth's shadow.
In short, anywhere to the southeast. While Seattle and Washington lie outside the path of totality - the roughly 70-mile strip of land in the United States where you can see the moon completely covering the sun - you'll still be able to see a 92% total solar spectacle. To get on the path of totality, you'll have to join about 1 million other eclipsing eclipses heading to Oregon. However, those who have not yet locked down their eclipse travel plans are advised to stay put.
Viewers on the path of totality will see the upper atmosphere of the sun, which appears as a halo around the sun during a total solar eclipse. Observers outside this path will still experience a partial solar eclipse, where the moon covers part of the solar disk. You will be able to watch the moon slowly pass over the sun until only a small sliver appears. He's still impressive.
Two total lunar eclipses. Corresponding to 2 (left) and 4 (right) on the Danjon scale
Ash Moonlight - a phenomenon when we see the entire Moon, although only part of it is illuminated by the Sun. At the same time, the part of the Moon’s surface not illuminated by direct sunlight has a characteristic ashen color.
When will the solar eclipse appear in Seattle?
Mars will be visible above the sun, and Venus will be visible 60 degrees above the southern horizon.
Are there dangers associated with viewing an eclipse?
You don't want to end up with burnt retinas - the result of looking at the eclipse without proper eye protection. In short, never look directly at the Sun without your eye protection mechanism. Even sunglasses cannot protect your eyes from sun damage. If you're heading to Oregon or somewhere along the path of totality, it's okay to view the eclipse during totality, but elsewhere precautions are highly recommended since the lens of the eye is powerful and has no pain receptors.
Ash Moonlight
It is observed shortly before and shortly after the new moon (at the beginning of the first quarter and at the end of the last quarter of the moon phases).
The glow of the surface of the Moon, not illuminated by direct sunlight, is formed by sunlight scattered by the Earth, and then reflected again by the Moon to the Earth. Thus, the route of photons of the Moon's ashen light is as follows: Sun → Earth → Moon → observer on Earth.
How a wondrous phenomenon is formed
Find out more about standard safety glasses. Two other safe filters for direct viewing of the sun are welder's tint 13 safety glasses or alternatively, you can also create a floodlight system. Still craving more eclipse experiences?
How is a solar eclipse formed?
Click on your favorite topics! The sun is 400 times larger than the moon and forty times further away. So pieces of both celestial bodies almost identical in the earth's sky. Thus, it is possible for the lunar disk to completely cover the solar disk in a total solar eclipse, like two coins lying on top of each other. An annular solar eclipse is visible below us: here the tip of the main shadow does not reach the ground.
Photon route when observing ashen light: Sun → Earth → Moon → Earth
The reason for this phenomenon has been well known since Leonardo da Vinci And Mikhail Mestlin,
Alleged Self-Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci
Michael Möstlin
teachers Kepler, who for the first time gave the correct explanation for the ashen light.
Johannes Kepler
The crescent moon with ashen light, drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in the Codex Leicester
The first instrumental comparisons of the brightness of the ashen light and the crescent moon were made in 1850 by French astronomers Arago And Lozhie.
Dominique Francois Jean Arago
The bright crescent is the part directly illuminated by the Sun. The rest of the Moon is illuminated by light reflected from the Earth
Photographic studies of the ashen light of the Moon at the Pulkovo Observatory, carried out G. A. Tikhov, led him to the conclusion that the Earth from the Moon should look like a bluish disk, which was confirmed in 1969, when man landed on the Moon.
Gabriel Adrianovich Tikhov
He considered it important to conduct systematic observations of the ashen light. Observations of the ashen light of the Moon allow us to judge the change in the Earth's climate. The intensity of the ashen color depends to some extent on the amount of cloud cover in the illuminated area. this moment side of the Earth; For the European part of Russia, bright ashen light reflected from powerful cyclonic activity in the Atlantic predicts precipitation in 7-10 days.
Partial eclipse
If the Moon falls into the total shadow of the Earth only partially, it is observed partial eclipse. With it, part of the Moon is dark, and part, even in its maximum phase, remains in partial shade and is illuminated by the sun's rays.
View of the Moon during a lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse
Around the cone of the Earth's shadow there is a penumbra - a region of space in which the Earth only partially obscures the Sun. If the Moon passes through the penumbra region, but does not enter the shadow, it occurs penumbral eclipse. With it, the brightness of the Moon decreases, but only slightly: such a decrease is almost imperceptible to the naked eye and is recorded only by instruments. Only when the Moon in a penumbral eclipse passes near the cone of total shadow can a slight darkening at one edge of the lunar disk be noticed in a clear sky.
Periodicity
Due to the discrepancy between the planes of the lunar and earth's orbits, not every full moon is accompanied by a lunar eclipse, and not every lunar eclipse is a total one. The maximum number of lunar eclipses per year is 3, but in some years there is not a single lunar eclipse. Eclipses repeat in the same order every 6585⅓ days (or 18 years 11 days and ~8 hours - a period called Saros); Knowing where and when a total lunar eclipse was observed, you can accurately determine the time of subsequent and previous eclipses that are clearly visible in this area. This cyclicality often helps to accurately date events described in historical records.
Saros or draconian period, consisting of 223 synodic months(an average of approximately 6585.3213 days or 18.03 tropical years), after which the eclipses of the Moon and the Sun approximately repeat in the same order.
Synodic(from ancient Greek σύνοδος “connection, rapprochement”) month- the period of time between two successive identical phases of the Moon (for example, new moons). Duration is variable; the average value is 29.53058812 average solar days (29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 2.8 seconds), the actual duration of the synodic month differs from the average within 13 hours.
Anomalistic month- the period of time between two successive passages of the Moon through perigee in its movement around the Earth. The duration at the beginning of 1900 was 27.554551 average solar days (27 days 13 hours 18 minutes 33.16 seconds), decreasing by 0.095 seconds per 100 years.
This period is a consequence of the fact that the 223 synodic months of the Moon (18 calendar years and 10⅓ or 11⅓ days, depending on the number of leap years in a given period) are almost equal to 242 draconic months (6585.36 days), that is, after 6585⅓ days the Moon returns to the same syzygy and to the orbital node. The second luminary important for the onset of the eclipse - the Sun - returns to the same node, since almost an integer number of draconic years (19, or 6585.78 days) pass - the periods of the Sun's passage through the same node of the Moon's orbit. In addition, 239 anomalistic months The Moons are 6585.54 days long, so the corresponding eclipses in each Saros occur at the same distance of the Moon from the Earth and have the same duration. During one Saros, on average, 41 solar eclipses occur (of which approximately 10 are total) and 29 lunar eclipses. They first learned to predict lunar eclipses using saros in ancient Babylon. Best Features for predicting eclipses it provides a period equal to triple Saros - exeligmos, containing an integer number of days, which was used in the Antikythera Mechanism.
Berosus calls a calendar period of 3600 years a saros; smaller periods were called: neros at 600 years and sosos at 60 years.
Solar eclipse
The longest solar eclipse occurred on January 15, 2010 in South East Asia and lasted more than 11 minutes.
A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon in which the Moon covers (eclipses) all or part of the Sun from an observer on Earth. A solar eclipse is only possible during a new moon, when the side of the Moon facing the Earth is not illuminated and the Moon itself is not visible. Eclipses are only possible if the new moon occurs near one of the two lunar nodes (the point where the visible orbits of the Moon and the Sun intersect), no more than about 12 degrees from one of them.
The Moon's shadow on the earth's surface does not exceed 270 km in diameter, so a solar eclipse is observed only in a narrow strip along the path of the shadow. Since the Moon revolves in an elliptical orbit, the distance between the Earth and the Moon at the time of an eclipse can be different; accordingly, the diameter of the lunar shadow spot on the Earth’s surface can vary widely from maximum to zero (when the top of the lunar shadow cone does not reach the Earth’s surface). If the observer is in the shadow band, he sees total solar eclipse in which the Moon completely hides the Sun, the sky darkens, and planets and bright stars may appear on it. Around the solar disk hidden by the Moon you can observe solar corona, which is not visible in the normal bright light of the Sun.
Elongated corona shape during the total solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 (close to the minimum between solar cycles 23 and 24)
When an eclipse is observed by a stationary ground-based observer, the total phase lasts no more than a few minutes. The minimum speed of movement of the lunar shadow on the earth's surface is just over 1 km/s. During a total solar eclipse, astronauts in orbit can observe the running shadow of the Moon on the Earth's surface.
Observers close to the total eclipse can see it as partial solar eclipse. During a partial eclipse, the Moon passes across the disk of the Sun not exactly in the center, hiding only part of it. At the same time, the sky darkens much less than during a total eclipse, and the stars do not appear. A partial eclipse can be observed at a distance of about two thousand kilometers from the total eclipse zone.
The totality of a solar eclipse is also expressed by the phase Φ . The maximum phase of a partial eclipse is usually expressed in hundredths of unity, where 1 is the total phase of the eclipse. The total phase can be greater than unity, for example 1.01, if the diameter of the visible lunar disk is greater than the diameter of the visible solar disk. Partial phases have a value less than 1. At the edge of the lunar penumbra, the phase is 0.
The moment when the leading/rear edge of the Moon's disk touches the edge of the Sun is called touch. The first touch is the moment when the Moon enters the disk of the Sun (the beginning of an eclipse, its partial phase). The last touch (the fourth in the case of a total eclipse) is the last moment of the eclipse, when the Moon leaves the disk of the Sun. In the case of a total eclipse, the second touch is the moment when the front of the Moon, having passed across the entire Sun, begins to emerge from the disk. A total solar eclipse occurs between the second and third touches. In 600 million years, tidal braking will move the Moon so far away from the Earth that a total solar eclipse will become impossible.
Astronomical classification of solar eclipses
According to astronomical classification, if an eclipse at least somewhere on the Earth's surface can be observed as total, it is called full.
Diagram of a total solar eclipse
If an eclipse can only be observed as a partial eclipse (this happens when the cone of the Moon's shadow passes close to the Earth's surface, but does not touch it), the eclipse is classified as private. When an observer is in the shadow of the Moon, he is observing a total solar eclipse. When he is in the penumbra region, he can observe a partial solar eclipse. In addition to total and partial solar eclipses, there are annular eclipses.
Animated annular eclipse
Diagram of an annular solar eclipse
An annular eclipse occurs when, at the time of the eclipse, the Moon is further away from the Earth than during a total eclipse, and the cone of the shadow passes over the Earth's surface without reaching it. Visually, during an annular eclipse, the Moon passes across the disk of the Sun, but it turns out to be smaller in diameter than the Sun, and cannot hide it completely. In the maximum phase of the eclipse, the Sun is covered by the Moon, but around the Moon a bright ring of the uncovered part of the solar disk is visible. During an annular eclipse, the sky remains bright, stars do not appear, and it is impossible to observe the solar corona. The same eclipse can be visible in different parts of the eclipse band as total or annular. This type of eclipse is sometimes called a total annular (or hybrid) eclipse.
The shadow of the Moon on Earth during an eclipse, photograph from the ISS. The photo shows Cyprus and Türkiye
Frequency of solar eclipses
From 2 to 5 solar eclipses can occur on Earth per year, of which no more than two are total or annular. On average, 237 solar eclipses occur per hundred years, of which 160 are partial, 63 are total, 14 are annular. At a certain point on the earth's surface, eclipses in a large phase occur quite rarely, and total solar eclipses are observed even more rarely. Thus, on the territory of Moscow from the 11th to the 18th centuries, 159 solar eclipses with a phase greater than 0.5 could be observed, of which only 3 were total (August 11, 1124, March 20, 1140, and June 7, 1415). Another total solar eclipse occurred on August 19, 1887. An annular eclipse could be observed in Moscow on April 26, 1827. A very strong eclipse with a phase of 0.96 occurred on July 9, 1945. The next total solar eclipse is expected in Moscow only on October 16, 2126.
Mention of eclipses in historical documents
Solar eclipses are often mentioned in ancient sources. An even greater number of dated descriptions are contained in Western European medieval chronicles and annals. For example, a solar eclipse is mentioned in the Annals of St. Maximin of Trier: “538 February 16, from the first to the third hour there was a solar eclipse.” A large number of descriptions of solar eclipses from ancient times are also contained in the chronicles of East Asia, primarily in the Dynastic histories of China, in Arab chronicles and Russian chronicles.
Mentions of solar eclipses in historical sources usually provide the opportunity for independent verification or clarification of the chronological relationship of the events described in them. If the eclipse is described in the source in insufficient detail, without indicating the location of observation, calendar date, time and phase, such identification is often ambiguous. In such cases, when ignoring the timing of the source over the entire historical interval, it is often possible to select several possible “candidates” for the role of a historical eclipse, which is actively used by some authors of pseudo-historical theories.
Discoveries made thanks to solar eclipses
Total solar eclipses make it possible to observe the corona and the immediate surroundings of the Sun, which is extremely difficult under normal conditions (although since 1996, astronomers have been able to constantly observe the surroundings of our star thanks to the work SOHO satellite(English) SolarandHeliosphericObservatory- solar and heliospheric observatory).
SOHO - spacecraft for observing the Sun
French scientist Pierre Jansen During a total solar eclipse in India on August 18, 1868, he first explored the chromosphere of the Sun and obtained the spectrum of a new chemical element
Pierre Jules César Jansen
(although, as it turned out later, this spectrum could be obtained without waiting for a solar eclipse, which was done two months later by the English astronomer Norman Lockyer). This element was named after the Sun - helium.
In 1882, on May 17, during a solar eclipse, observers from Egypt noticed a comet flying near the Sun. She got the name Eclipse comets, although it has another name - comet Tewfik(in honor of Khedive Egypt at that time).
1882 Eclipse Comet(modern official designation: X/1882 K1) is a comet that was discovered by observers in Egypt during a solar eclipse of 1882.Her appearance was a complete surprise, and she was observed during an eclipse for the first and last time. She is a member of the familycircumsolar comets Kreutz Sungrazers, and was 4 months ahead of the appearance of another member of this family - the large September comet of 1882. Sometimes she is called comet Tewfik in honor of the Khedive of Egypt at that time Tevfika.
Khedive(khedive, khedif) (Persian - lord, sovereign) - the title of the Vice-Sultan of Egypt, which existed during the period of Egypt's dependence on Turkey (1867-1914). This title was held by Ismail, Tawfik and Abbas II.
Taufik Pasha
The role of eclipses in the culture and science of mankind
Since ancient times, solar and lunar eclipses, like other rare astronomical phenomena such as the appearance of comets, have been perceived as negative events. People were very afraid of eclipses, since they occur rarely and are unusual and frightening natural phenomena. In many cultures, eclipses were considered harbingers of misfortune and disaster (especially lunar eclipses, apparently due to the red color of the shadowed Moon, which was associated with blood). In mythology, eclipses were associated with the struggle of higher powers, one of which wants to disrupt the established order in the world (“extinguish” or “eat” the Sun, “kill” or “drench” the Moon with blood), and the other wants to preserve it. The beliefs of some peoples required complete silence and inaction during eclipses, while others, on the contrary, required active witchcraft to help the “light forces”. To some extent, this attitude towards eclipses persisted until modern times, despite the fact that the mechanism of eclipses had long been studied and generally known.
Eclipses have provided rich material for science. In ancient times, observations of eclipses helped to study celestial mechanics and understand the structure of solar system. The observation of the Earth's shadow on the Moon provided the first “cosmic” evidence of the fact that our planet is spherical. Aristotle was the first to point out that the shape of the earth's shadow during lunar eclipses is always round, which proves the sphericity of the Earth. Solar eclipses made it possible to begin studying the corona of the Sun, which cannot be observed during normal times. During solar eclipses, the phenomena of gravitational curvature of light rays near a significant mass were first recorded, which became one of the first experimental proofs of the conclusions of the general theory of relativity. Observations of their passages across the solar disk played a major role in the study of the inner planets of the solar system. Thus, Lomonosov, observing the passage of Venus across the disk of the Sun in 1761, for the first time (30 years before Schröter and Herschel) discovered the Venusian atmosphere, discovering the refraction of solar rays when Venus enters and exits the solar disk.
Solar eclipse with the help of Moscow State University
Eclipse of the Sun by Saturn on September 15, 2006. Photo of the Cassini interplanetary station from a distance of 2.2 million km