Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Partial Solar Eclipse Friday

Posted by timothy on from the you-can-go-down-a-few-spf-numbers dept.

Pankaj Arora writes "To those in the South Pacific (USA) and certain parts of the Americas, Friday, April 8th marks the day of the first solar eclipse of 2005. From the article: "It will be a partial eclipse rather than a total one, in which the Earth is cast into darkness. But it will be the last partial solar eclipse visible from the continental United States until May 20, 2012." Also, see other related stories."

3 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. end is near? by St.+Arbirix · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think it's worth mentioning that 2012 is also the year the gods decide whether or not humanity should live another 13 394-year cycles (5122 years). That's at least according to the Maya and Aztec.

    --
    Direct away from face when opening.
  2. Fuzzy Memories by Psiolent · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember as a kid watching a partial eclipse and being rather disappointed in it. We made those stupid pin-hole viewers that cast the crescent shaped shadows. I was thoroughly unimpressed.

    Then someone noticed that their straw hat was creating the same effect with every single hole in it. That was pretty cool. Finally I started looking around the ground and saw that every ray of light that was filtering through the canopy (we were in a wooded area) was shaped like a crescent. That was really cool. Now I actually look forware to these partial eclipses.

  3. Blogging from the South Pacific by pyramis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Fortunately for a few lucky adventurers, this happens to be the season when sailboats cross the South Pacific from Mexico to French Polynesia (they call it the Puddle Jump). My mom's boat happens to be among them, traveling on her retirement adventure.

    I created a blog for their sailboat. Since they have email access via single sideband radio, they can blog from the boat! Plus there's a GPS tracker built into the site so you can see the current position. Pretty neat.

    http://wind-river.blogspot.com