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.

Comments

Contray to popular belief..

[Metallic Matty]

staring directly at a solar eclipse is not a good idea..

Re:Contray to popular belief..

[prelelat]

actually you can stare at a Total eclpise without having to worry about your eyes burning out at all. Its when you view a Partial Eclipse that you will burn your eyes. When the eclpise you can start to view it without protective eye wear. You can even look at it with a telescope. But beware it will only last a few minutes some times even less and then you had better put on your eye protection again.

When you are viewing a total eclipse what you see for light is actually the Corona of the sun.

At Start and end of totality, light from solar surface passes through Crevices at the edge of the moon, producing Bailey's Beads(Points of light at the edge of the moon) or a diamond ring effect(One bright spot set upon the silvery corona)

It is actullay quite amazing though I have never viewed one in real life I seen one on a video in my Atronomy class in university

A total eclipse is rare because it takes about 54 years and 34 days for the total eclipse to return to (almost) the same area.

it takes 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days to occure again but it will happen 120 degreese further west due to the rotation of the earth durring that time.

Re:Contray to popular belief..

[Malcolm Scott]

actually you can stare at a Total eclpise without having to worry about your eyes burning out at all.

No. Common misconception. The danger is at the end of the eclipse: your eyes are accustomed to the dark, your pupils are dilated, and suddenly the first Bailey's Bead appears. The Bailey's Beads can be very bright compared to the eclipse itself: the corona is instantly invisible again.

it takes 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days to occure again but it will happen 120 degreese further west due to the rotation of the earth durring that time.

Funny then about the one I saw a few years ago (1999?) in Austria...

Re:Contray to popular belief..

[bobtheprophet]

Haiku.

It still seems stupid
to stare at the sun, whether
it's eclipsed or not.

Re:Contray to popular belief..

[prelelat]

"Funny then about the one I saw a few years ago (1999?) in Austria..."

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/worldeclipse .gif

Oh boy! Oh boy! I can't wait!!!

[GeckoFood]

...they will be setting up a "tent city" for those of us...

Now all I need it the airfare to get there, and I'm all set! Oh...I almost forgot...better get permission from the wife...

Damn. She said no. :-(

An answer to the "But why Ceduna?" question

[PhysicsScholar]

I know everyone here probably knows what an eclipse is, and you all probably appreciate the grandeur exhibited by shadows created with celestial entities.

But I myself wasn't quite sure why Ceduna in southern Australia was a good place to view it. However, after some research, I found the following information:

To witness all that this total solar eclipse has to offer, viewing must be within the narrow path of the moon's umbral shadow, which passes directly over Ceduna.

Although the sun will be partly eclipsed throughout South Australia, and 88% eclipsed from Adelaide, the spectacular effects of this eclipse will not be visible outside the shadow's path due to the intensity of remaining light from the sun.

Even 99% eclipsed gives you much less than 99% of the 'total eclipse experience'!

The bottom line: if you are in your parents' basement at the time, you will miss the total eclipse.

Re:An answer to the "But why Ceduna?" question

[minesweeper]

My astronomy professor, who's seen many more solar eclipses than I will in my lifetime, said that the difference between a 99% solar eclipse and a 100% total eclipse is like being 99% pregnant versus 100% pregnant. Either you get the full experience, or it's basically a wash.

In other words, if you're close to the path of totality, make sure to go see the total solar eclipse, even if it's just a little bit out of your way. It makes a big difference.

Additionally, this solar eclipse will be right at sunset in Australia. It should be a doubly spectacular sight.

Re:An answer to the "But why Ceduna?" question

[Soft]

Wow! Amazing! To see the eclipse you've actually got to be somewhere where the eclipse is happening!

Actually no, the 1999 solar eclipse was visible from the Mir space station as a huge shadow on Earth. Spectacular.

To the owner..

[jamesjw]

To the owner of a Blue Mitsubishi Eclipse licence plate ERQ-1343, you left your lights on.

Tent City?

[Will_Malverson]

Don't those crazy foreigners know that it's almost WINTER?

False. It is not approaching fast.

[Anonymous Coward]

The total Solar Eclipse on December 4 is fast approaching...

December 4th is approaching at the same rate it always does. One day per day.

Outback Eclipse Festival

[OzJimbob]

The other option is to head to the Outback Eclipse Festival at Lyndhurst, in the even more stunning Flinders Ranges. This point is further east than Ceduna, so the eclipse should happen even closer to sunset, and the even comprises a chill-out music festival over several days. I live in Adelaide, and I would be heading here rather than Ceduna (although unfortunately I'm saving for a DIFFERENT holiday so I can't afford to make an appearance!)

"total" eclipse in Ithaca

[MacAndrew]

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.

Re:"total" eclipse in Ithaca

[MacAndrew]

Actually, you could argue everything is not out of happenstance but physics and chaos theory. Our understanding is continually "evolving."

As for coincidences, like the size of the Moon and Sun, you can find any number of them looking around you. Humans happen to like coincidences. But what might seem unique could be the result of ignorance or lacking imagination: we just don't know of other examples. Also, things that are similar are only so for a brief time. The orbits of the Earth and Moon have changed over time. The Moon used to be much closer to its planet, and is gradually drifting away. The year used to be much longer: the Earth has accelerated as it has drawn closer to the Sun.

Stay tuned, we're learning faster and faster.

Nice eclipse photos and info online...

[EnlightenmentFan]

For slashdotters who want to dream about Ceduna, you can link to a boatload of past eclipse photos at "MrEclipse.com".

One of my favorites shows the 1970 eclipse near total, with a diamond-ring effect". I actually saw that one--it was amazing. When the sky gets dark, the birds figure it's night and go roost in the trees. Beautiful.

Mr. Eclipse also links to Ceduna info, including an animation of the shadow's path across earth.

If you intend to go

[batty]

If you're going to see this, there's a couple of things to remember.

That area is largely arid - it can rightfilly be called desert.

AND

It's summer here.

Temperatures in that area can reach 45C to 50C and water is hard to find outside habitation. Even if you do nothing but lay in your tent you WILL need 4 litres of water per day. You have to drink enough so that you piss clear. (Guide: The darker your urine, the more dehydrated you are)

No, coffee, Coke and Pepsi aren't a substitute for water, even though they have water in them.

No, neither is beer, even if it is Cooper's Sparkling Ale.

Re:Double-edged sword of nature

[iabervon]

Not even sunglasses can block the longitudinal waves of harmful gamma radiation, which penetrates the skin and malforms cells into cancerous, replicating destroyers.

Obviously, this has nothing to go with looking at it. And it's even worse without the moon blocking some of the radiation. That's why I've been hiding in a lead-lined room in the basement for the last ten years...

why I'm headed to Ceduna for 30 secs of totality

[chongo]

I'm on my way to the Ceduna region for somewhere between 30 and 32 seconds of totality. I'll spend ~2 weeks looking at sites between Canberra and Ceduna, but the highlight will certainly be totality.

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.