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Rare Midnight Solar Eclipse Caught In the Arctic

Posted by timothy on from the where-was-arcticstoat? dept.

Tyketto writes "Wired Magazine has an article posted about a solar eclipse occurring overnight in the Arctic and Scandinavian regions over the night of June 1st and 2nd. They explain: 'During the Arctic summer, the sun dips low on the horizon but never sets. That means a solar eclipse is theoretically possible at any time. But this week's eclipse was the first visible from Scandinavia since 2000, and the deepest since 1985. The next one won't be for another 73 years.' NASA has the details, while NPR also has a small blurb on it, with Tromsø, Norway resident Rhys Jones adding some pictures to Flickr, and SpaceWeather putting together a gallery."

5 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. news? by hvm2hvm · · Score: 2

    Is it news if it's something you can know about a long time before it happens?

    --
    ics
    1. Re:news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      "US forces invades Iraq"
      "Mr. and Mrs. Doe are now parents"
      "Subprime mortgages causes bank crisis"

      So.. Yes.

  2. Re:Scandinavia!? by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually Scandinavia as a noun is a perfectly valid use of the word.

    Just like Oceania is used to describe the regions around the country of Australia which are not part of the country of Australia but border on the continent of Australasia and the Pacific Region.

    One may say it's also similar to the Arctic. Also not a country but a perfectly valid noun describing a region.

  3. How does that work? by jfengel · · Score: 2

    I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the mechanics of eclipses, but I never realized that solar eclipses would particularly occur at arctic latitudes more than others.

    Rereading the sentence, I think it just means "possible at any time, as opposed to just during the day time, since day is 24 hours long". As opposed to my initial reading, "it makes solar eclipses particularly probable". That's not correct, right? And did anybody else read it that way, or am I just exposing my ignorance (again)?

    1. Re:How does that work? by VortexCortex · · Score: 2

      I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the mechanics of eclipses, but I never realized that solar eclipses would particularly occur at arctic latitudes more than others.

      Rereading the sentence, I think it just means "possible at any time, as opposed to just during the day time, since day is 24 hours long". As opposed to my initial reading, "it makes solar eclipses particularly probable". That's not correct, right? And did anybody else read it that way, or am I just exposing my ignorance (again)?

      Particularly probable in that region. Perhaps, because the region does not experience an obstruction of the Sun by the Earth. Thus, a solar eclipse may occur at "any time" -- This doubles the chance of observing Solar eclipses.

      An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth (Solar Eclipse).
      During a Solar Eclipse a Lunar eclipse is less likely to be visible...

      An eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun (Lunar Eclipse).
      During a Lunar Eclipse, a Solar eclipse is less likely to be visible...

      An eclipse of the Earth occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Earth (Night). During a Night, a Solar eclipse is less likely to be visible...

      An eclipse of the Earth can also occur when your hands pass between the Earth and your Face (Face-palm).
      During a Face-Palm, all other eclipses are less likely to be visible...