May 21, 2012 Partial (Annular) Solar Eclipse

[rodsky]

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This event will be on Monday, May 21, 2012 early morning, here in the Philippines.

a) This will be an ANNULAR eclipse, meaning at the moment the moon crosses the front of the sun, it won't cover it completely and thus a ring will form in the sky. Now, you might think "Well, there's ALWAYS a ring formed around the sun in solar eclipses that are not annular or total...yes but that ring is formed by the corona, and NOT the actual surface of the sun. The reason why the ring this time is formed by the surface of the sun (instead of the corona), is because the moon is in apogee (remember when I explained what perigee was?), when its further from the earth than usual, so its apparent size is smaller than the sun's disk. Ergo, the sky won't darken as much as a total eclipse, because a LOT of the sun's light will "spill" over.

b) Here in the Philippines, YOU WON'T EVEN SEE THIS RING OF FIRE EFFECT, because our country doesn't lie on the path of the moon's shadow--all that we shall see is a partial solar eclipse, and we won't even be able to determine (say, if you didn't know about the specific type of solar eclipse occuring) if it's annular or total, considering it's only a partial one. What is a partial eclipse? Bite on a Fita cracker--the resulting bite is what a partial solar eclipse will look like. Here's a simulated photograph of the event at greatest eclipse--so you can see clearly that this is as far as the moon "eats" the sun--it won't get any bigger than this:


c) Chances are, you will miss this event (the partiality) here in the Philippines...because it will occur in a narrow corridor between around 5:30 AM - 6:30 AM. When the sun rises in the eastern horizon, the moon would've already "eaten" a good portion of the sun. Moment of greatest eclipse from the Philippines would be at around 5:55 AM, and the moon would be out of the sun by 6:50 AM. And why did I say there's a chance you'd miss the event? Well because 1) You have to have a really clear view towards the east, so best places include high rise buildings with a clear view to the east, because the sun/moon would be very low in the sky (between 5-10 degrees). 2) No clouds in the eastern horizon and 3) You are actually awake at 5:30AM--not if you work nightshift maybe.

d) Finally, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY, ESP. IF YOU HAVE A PAIR OF BINOCULARS OR OTHER MAGNIFYING EQUIPMENT (I.E. DSLR W TELEPHOTO LENS BUT NO FILTER)--please follow solar eclipse viewing safety rules, which can be found all over the internet, of which here is one good example: Solar Eclipse: A How-To Guide for Viewing Eclipses | Exploratorium

-RODION

[J.Abz]

im not seeing the sun karn....hnmm klaro daw ig if mah telescope krn..

[aljy]

La ko kita dah..namahaw paman ko gud..sayang

[prukutung]

waited from 5:15am-6:30, wala jud ko nakit-an eclipse, around 5am-6am cloudy kaau ang east esp. ang part wer the sun was supposed to rise, indeed ubos kaau ang angle kai makita jud nimu sa clouds nga ang sun ubos pajud ato (considering we lived in an elevated place at Tisa, and in a 2-storey house).. 6am onwards i focused my camera and waited... wala jud ko kaabot..

[rodsky]

Filter that I used. Thousand Oaks Black Polymer professional solar filter.


Filter holder I constructed out of cardboard:






Some resulting shots:


about 2 minutes before moment of greatest eclipse (taken at Davao City).
5:53 AM
Canon PowerShot S3IS
f/5.6
1/8 sec exp.


One minute after MGE
5:56AM
f/5.6
1/2 sec exp.

-RODION

[crazy_monkey]

nice.. too bad wa ko kita..

[aldrin89]

Filter that I used. Thousand Oaks Black Polymer professional solar filter.

asa ta kapalit aning solar filter?

[rodsky]

asa ta kapalit aning solar filter?

None available locally (unless you are an ALP member). But you can order Online:

Solar Filters

AstroShop - Solar Safety viewing filters

-RODION

[aldrin89]

None available locally (unless you are an ALP member). But you can order Online:

Solar Filters

AstroShop - Solar Safety viewing filters

-RODION

sayanga wala di ay ni diri, i want to see Venus Transit with my telescope.

[Sky]

from one of my videos (snip pic).. Ring of Fire - from Japan