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Crescent Sunset

Posted by michael on from the awesome-photo-opportunity dept.

nick_davison writes "According to those ever helpful folks at NASA, next Monday's (10th) sunset should be a "crescent". Depending on where you live, as much as 80% of the sun should be obscured by the moon, leaving just a glowing cresent shape. If you are lucky enough to be in the middle of the Pacific ocean at the time, the moon will pass dead-center. Though too small to cause a full eclipse, the annular eclipse should create a "ring of fire" as the sun shines around it."

24 comments

  1. Damn! by PhysicsGenius · · Score: 2, Informative

    I thought I was going to have a chance to show the little one a (partial) eclipse but apparently the east coast won't see any action. "Only west of Atlanta" it says.

  2. THAT SUCKS!! by jeffy124 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    East coast people wont be able to see it! It happens after nightfall for us!

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    1. Re:THAT SUCKS!! by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I was bummed too. But thats what I get for living in a swamp Filled with bugs and bugs (politicians). Oh well

      --
      Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
  3. Welding glasses my tailpipe... by watashiwananashidesu · · Score: 2, Funny

    I stare at the sun every now and then, and even though I'm nearsighted and have mild problems with some colors, I can still see. What's staring at one during an eclipse for a few seconds going to hurt? I'll just see spots for a few minutes...

    And yes, I KNOW I'm being stupid. But it'd be nice if someone could show me just why.

    1. Re:Welding glasses my tailpipe... by Fantanicity · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here's why

    2. Re:Welding glasses my tailpipe... by rthille · · Score: 1

      That site is at least partially wrong. They state that it's the IR and UV that damages your eyes, not the visible light. The IR won't damage your eye, it's even lower energy than visible light.

      --
      Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
    3. Re:Welding glasses my tailpipe... by bcrowell · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nope, they're right. You're thinking of the energy per photon, which is relevant if you're worried about getting cancer from it, but irrelevant here, since the danger is from heating.

      --
      Find free books.
  4. Not all of us live in Detroit, MI, you know... by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2, Funny

    How west-of-Atlanta-centric of slashdot to post this story.

    1. Re:Not all of us live in Detroit, MI, you know... by flewp · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Okay, so /. should stop posting any stories relating to the USA? Shut up already with this "If it's USA related, it shouldn't be here because that's biased" bullshit. I don't think I've ever seen someone from the US gripe about a story that affects Europe.
      Not all of us live in Europe y'know.
      (NOTE: I'm just using Europe as example, so don't pull that "How do you know I'm from Europe?" crap. I don't care where you're from, but if there's a story concerning just the place where you live, I sure as hell won't gripe about it.)

      --
      WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
    2. Re:Not all of us live in Detroit, MI, you know... by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2

      I guess my tongue-in-cheek statement would have been more obvious if I had explicitly mentioned that I lived on the eastern coast of the U.S. Thanks for pointing this out.

  5. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash by dimator · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Love Is A Burning Thing
    And It Makes A Fiery Ring
    Bound By Wild Desire
    I Fell Into A Ring Of Fire

    CHORUS:
    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    The Taste Of Love Is Sweet
    When Hearts Like Ours Meet
    I Fell For You Like A Child
    Oh, But The Fire Went Wild

    CHORUS
    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns

    The Ring Of Fire

    The Ring Of Fire

    --
    python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
    1. Re:Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash by JanneM · · Score: 1

      I cannot get over the idea that the song originally is about hemorroids...

      /Janne

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    2. Re:Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This song was popular when I served in Viet Nam. It sure had a special meaning for us.

  6. OT - Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1

    This song has got to have some sort of record for most diverse group of bands to cover it - I've heard the Johhny Cash, Social Distortion, Wall of Voodoo, and Frank Zappa versions, and this page lists several more.

    --
    Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
    You cannot wash away blood with blood
    1. Re:OT - Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash by Zerelli · · Score: 0

      They Might Be Giants did it at a show I saw. It was during the "stump the band" encore where they play a song that the crowd picks. They actually did a passable job.

  7. OT - Rush - Earthshine, off Vapor Trails by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Happened last month, BTW..

    ---

    On certain nights
    When the angles are right
    And the moon is a slender crescent
    Each circle shows
    in a ghostly glow
    Of Earthly luminescence

    Earthshine -
    A beacon in the night
    I can raise my eyes to Earthshine
    Earthshine -
    A jewel out of reach
    For a dream to rise to
    Earthshine

    Floating high
    In the evening sky
    I see my faint reflection
    Pale facsimile
    Like what others see
    When they look in my direction

    Earthshine -
    A beacon in the night
    I can raise my eyes to Earthshine
    Earthshine -
    Stretching out your hand
    Full of starlit diamonds,
    Earthshine

    Reflected light
    To another's sight
    And the moon tells a lover's story
    My borrowed face
    And my third-hand grace
    Only reflect your glory

    Earthshine -
    Stretching out your hand
    I can raise my eyes to Earthshine
    Earthshine -
    You're still out of reach
    For a dream to rise to
    Earthshine

  8. Eclipse Map by LearningWell · · Score: 4, Informative

    The best eclipse map I've seen is in this May 20th article at space.com.

  9. Pacific Rim Sunrise by mgarraha · · Score: 3, Informative

    Taiwan, the Philippines, and New Guinea will see the eclipse at sunrise on June 11. This Sky and Telescope article has another map.

  10. Time to... by TweeKinDaBahx · · Score: 1

    Take acid and make donuts!

    --
    Linux is dead.
    LU
  11. Be very careful by jesterzog · · Score: 3, Informative


    Be very careful if you ever do this. The retina in your eye doesn't have proper nerve endings, so it's quite possible for your eye to be wasting away without it immediately hurting. You may not notice all the damage until much too late.


  12. Eclipse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All that you touch
    All that you see
    All that you taste
    All that you feel.
    All that you love
    All that you hate
    All that you distrust
    All that you save.
    All that you give
    All that you deal
    All that you buy,
    beg, borrow, or steal.
    All that you create
    All that you destroy
    All that you do
    All that you say
    All that you eat
    And everyone you meet
    All that you slight
    And everyone you fight.
    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
    -- Eclipse from "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd

  13. Annular Eclipse by martyn+s · · Score: 3, Informative

    The story says that in the middle of the pacific, the sun is a ring of fire. I just wanted to point out that such eclipses are about as common as total solar eclipses, and they are called annular eclipses. Since the angular size of the sun varies over a period of a year, it causes about half of 'dead on' eclipses to be annular eclipses instead of total eclipses.

  14. Smoked glass? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quote from the site:

    "Under NO circumstances use the following methods - sunglass lenses, crossed polarising filters, exposed photographic film, compact disks, smoked glass ..."

    Another quote:
    "The damage is not done by the visible light, but by the high energy infrared and ultraviolet light."

    Now why wouldn't smoked glass work?
    IIRC from my physics lessons, UV light does not pass through glass easily. So scratch the UV rays.
    Only the IR rays left then, and the soot on the glass should take care of them, right?

    1. Re:Smoked glass? by hplasm · · Score: 1

      You have to account for the incredible dimness of people. If smoked glass was said to be *ok*, then imagine the lawsuits when thousands of blinded ijits said "..but They said smoked glass was ok..."

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.