Partial Sunrise Solar Eclipse Sunday Morning

SUNDAY GOOD MORNING TO THE SUN AND MOON—TOGETHER AGAIN


(Image Sources: NASA, Wikipedia.org )

By Francis G. Graham
Professor Emeritus of Physics
Kent State University
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower
                         

Eclipse of the Sun / Solar Eclipse:
Tips For Safe Viewing

 

(Following Professor Graham's article is an addendum for East Coast North American viewers)

There will be an eclipse of the Sun on Sunday morning, and part of it will be visible from Pittsburgh.

General Eclipse Situation

This will be an Annular-Total , or Hybrid, eclipse, total in most places but annular near the ends. An annular eclipse is an eclipse where the Moon, due to its increased distance, does not cover the Sun completely. For most of the eclipse, the 4000-mile radius of the Earth is sufficient to project people on the eclipse path into totality.

The eclipse will begin in the western Atlantic Ocean 10:04:25 UT, which is 5:04 AM, Eastern Standard Time. The Sun will of course not have arisen yet in Pittsburgh. The shadow will proceed across the Atlantic to a maximum point just off the coast of Liberia, Africa; then it will continue on and make landfall in Gabon. It will cross the Republic of the Congo and then the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The shadow will continue to Uganda and Kenya, and leave the Earth in Ethiopia, around 15:28:13 UT (10:28 AM Eastern Standard Time).

The eclipse will not be visible at all, west from a line connecting Cleveland with Portsmouth, Ohio and down to Atlanta, Georgia and Tallahasseee. The farther east you are to watch the Sunrise, the better.

The Pittsburgh Eclipse Experience

From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania a limited eclipse is visible but not much. It will be almost over as soon as the Sun rises on the southeastern horizon!

The eclipse will start in Pittsburgh before the Sun is above the horizon, at 5:16:45 Eastern Standard Time. The Sun will be clear above a good flat east-southeast horizon about 6:56 AM, depending on how far east or west you are in the greater Pittsburgh area. Just fifteen minutes later, at 7:09:29 AM Eastern Standard Time, the eclipse will end!! The Sun at that time will then be only two degrees above the horizon as seen from Pittsburgh!

If you want to see this eclipse from Pittsburgh, be sure to find a place where you have a very flat horizon to the east-southeast under clear skies. Also be sure to set your clock back one hour; November 3 at 2 AM is the time switch to Eastern Standard Time from Eastern Daylight Time.

Please let me know if you observed this eclipse or tried to, and how it went. (Information can be sent to the following address, which will be forwarded to Professor Graham: fotz@planetarium.cc )

Source: Francis G. Graham, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Kent State University
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.
Professor Graham was also a Planetarium Lecturer and Observatory Observer at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science in the  late 1970s and the 1980s, and he serves on the Steering Committee of Friends of the Zeiss.

Eclipse of the Sun / Solar Eclipse:
Tips For Safe Viewing

 

Addendum: For East Coast North American Viewers

By Glenn A. Walsh, Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

 

While people viewing the November 3 solar eclipse in Pittsburgh or eastern Ohio will see a very slight partial eclipse, people near the eastern coast of North America will be treated to a larger partial eclipse of the Sun, weather and clouds permitting. Here are some percentages of obscuration of the Sun, by the Moon, at maximum eclipse for select cities:

* New York: 48 percent

* Boston: 54 percent

* Philadelphia: 44 percent

* Washington: 35 percent

* Miami: 36 percent

* Montreal: 32 percent

* Toronto: 10 percent

In all cases, the eclipse is in progress at local sunrise, and the eclipse ends just about 15 to 20 minutes later. Maximum eclipse occurs around 7:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or perhaps a few minutes earlier (do not forget to reset your clocks, as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time).

You will need an unobstructed view of the Sun, shortly after sunrise, to see this eclipse. Of course, clouds and inclement weather can also obstruct the view of an eclipse.

 

Remember--NEVER, NEVER, NEVER look directly at the Sun or a solar eclipse with a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device--it would cause PERMANENT BLINDNESS INSTANTLY. Looking directly at the Sun or a solar eclipse with the naked-eye could also cause eye damage.

 

There are no nerve cells in the eyes, so eye damage could occur while the viewer feels no pain !!!

 

Click the following link for tips on how to view a solar eclipse or eclipse of the Sun safely:

 

Eclipse of the Sun / Solar Eclipse:
Tips For Safe Viewing

Other helpful links for information on the November 3 eclipse ---

NASA Eclipse Web Site: Link >>> http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2013Nov03Hgoogle.html

EarthSky.org: Link >>> http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/get-ready-hybrid-solar-eclipse-on-november-3

Space.com: Link >>> http://www.space.com/23419-hybrid-solar-eclipse-visibility-images-november-3-2013.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh, Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

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