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Total Solar Eclipse at Ceduna, South Australia
moooooooo writes "The total Solar Eclipse on December 4 is fast approaching with Ceduna in South Australia being one of the better places to observe this rare event.
Accomodation was thought to have been booked out but a new site has been set up where you can find more information on the event. Information can be found here and accomodation info is at the bottom of the page. I heard on the radio that they will be setting up a "tent city" for those of us who want to camp out." There's a very impressive eclipse page describing the orbital conditions necessary for an eclipse and listing solar and lunar eclipses coming up.
"Funny then about the one I saw a few years ago (1999?) in Austria..."
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actually if you saw anything it was probably a partial eclipse where the moon is not quite covering the sun. These are alot more commen and are actually called "Annular Eclipses" these are not good for your eyes at any time. and occure when the moon is at Apogee(farthest distance from the Earth in its orbit) Its umbra shawdow winn not reach earth.
So to what you said you saw it in 1999 that is not right because eclipses follow a designated path I have included a map of this path and as you can see it passes austria in december of 2002 and in 2013. http://www.uc.edu/geology/geologylist/worldeclips
I was in school at Cornell several years ago (1995?) when there was a total-but-not eclipse -- and annular solar eclipse. The one I saw was not quite like that of the link, but it was a very strange event. For several minutes, it was like daylight but not quite; the light was gray and there were bizarre shadows and diffraction effectcs.
So not all solar eclipses are alike. It interests me that the Moon and Sun are so similar is apparent (angular) size. The Moon is unique in the solar system for its enormous one-quarter size relative to its planet.
The link has a 1992 photo and numerous tips and links re eclipses generally.
Actually no, the 1999 solar eclipse was visible from the Mir space station as a huge shadow on Earth. Spectacular.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Why go all that way to in the place where the "sun don't shine :-)" for a few seconds?
If you have ever seen / experienced a true
100% total eclipse you might understand.
I have NEVER seem a photograph
do justice to the experience.
Not only do photographs fail to present the
full dynamic range of the visual, they lack
the wind, the temperature drop, the effect
on plants, birds, insects, people ...
You really have to see and experience a total
solar eclipse directly.
Each eclipse is unique. The shape and size of the solar corona. The colors. Solar prominence positions, shapes, rates of change. Sky brightness. Duration of the diamond rings. Shadow edge sharpness. Shadow band size and change rate. etc. etc. No two eclipses look the same.
The eclipse near/at Ceduna will have some special features. The short duration is a result of the moon and sun being very near the same size. Long eclipses (such as up 7+ minutes) allow for observation of the inner corona (near the solar disk edge) only near the beginning and end of the Eclipse. Short eclipses offer excellent inner corona views throughout the eclipse. There is a trade-off between inner detail and duration.
The eclipse will be near sunset. The same optical illusion that makes a full moon near the horizon seem large makes the solar corona (sometimes 2x to 4x the apparent size of the sun/moon disk) seem huge.
The Sun will set after totality ends but while the moon is partially covering the solar disk. We will watch a crescent sun set. Instead of watching a single point wink out, we will watch two points wink out one after the other. Some are hoping to see a double green flash.
The Sun should be entering quieter phase of its sunspot cycle. But for the last few months we have seen an unusual degree of activity this late in cycle. A more active sun frequently results in a non-uniform shaped corona. A more active sun frequently results more and unusual numbers of solar prominences.
chongo (was here)