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..

[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

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

[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.

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.

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.