Eclipses

Perhaps I was predestined to keep my eyes on the heavens. On the day I was born, Good Friday, April 12, 1968, a total lunar eclipse graced the skies above Omaha, Nebraska. This was the famous Spica eclipse, where the moon was also in very close conjunction with the bright star, Spica, in Virgo. Using a cool bit of software called Starry Night Pro, I have recreated the lunar eclipse above Omaha in this picture. The moon is in the center and is very dark, as it is in the Earth's shadow.

Today, I enjoyed another eclipse, this of the solar variety, through an interesting live webcast from Turkey. You can relive it in the Exploratorium archives. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy here in Nürnberg; otherwise, I could have at least seen around 34% of the sun covered by the moon through my eclipse glasses.

This webcast was very well done, however. The technicians in charge removed the solar filters at just the right time to catch the diamond ring effect at third contact as the last bits of sunlight filtered through the valleys at the moon's edge.

I'm excited about the next total solar eclipse in the United States on August 21, 2017. The trick with eclipse travel is to find a spot that has a good shot at being cloudless on the big day. Here is an interactive Google map of this eclipse so you can start your planning now.