Eclipse Geeks
All you ever wanted to know about eclipse and other celstial bodies
Eclipse Geeks is about the wonder of Earth, eclipses, astronomy, the Solar System and the universe
Wonder of Earth, the Solar System, the Universe, and Eclipses during 2012
All you ever wanted to know about Eclipses and other celestial bodies.
Eclipse Geeks is about the wonder of Earth, eclipses, astronomy, the Solar System and the universe
Just by using your eyes you can observe the planets of our Solar System, the stars, and other celestial bodies of the Universe.
You do not need a telescope, you do not even need binoculars. All you need are your eyes, go outside and look upwards to the night sky.
EG Everything Good – Everything Eclipse Geeks
Comprehensive, accurate and reliable information
Types of Eclipses
and Definition of an Eclipse
2012 - a special year - a Total Solar Eclipse in Australia, November 2012
United States of America - an Annular Solar Eclipse 20 May 2012
There is also a rare Transit of Venus across the disk of the Sun in June 2012
Transits of Venus are amongst the Rarest of Planetary Alignments
There are many mind absorbing, interesting, and wonderful things to read and to observe in the night sky during 2012
There are four eclipses during 2012: Two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses. The two Solar Eclipses are both central consisting of an Annular Solar eclipse and a Total Solar Eclipse. The Lunar Eclipses consist of a Partial Lunar Eclipse and a Penumbra Lunar Eclipse.
Lunar and Solar Eclipses 2012 in order of sequence
1st eclipse; Annular Solar Eclipse 20 May 2012 2nd eclipse: Partial Lunar Eclipse 04 June 2012
3rd eclipse: Total Solar Eclipse 13 November 2012 4th eclipse: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 28 November 2012
Transit of Venus across the surface of the Sun; 05/06 June 2012
Australia Total Solar Eclipse
Local time and date 14 November 2012
AustraliaTotal Solar Eclipse Phase begins at sunrise remarkable close to Tor Rock, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia, early morning 14 February 2012.
United States of America
Annular Solar Eclipse 20 May 2012
An annular solar eclipse passes over parts of the United States. Other areas of the USA, Mexico and Canada will observe a partial solar eclipse.
Brief Definition of an Eclipse
An eclipse is the total or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another. It may occur when one celestial body passes in front of another therefore cutting off some or all of its light. It may also occur when a celestial body passes through all or part-off the shadow of another celestial body.
There are two primary types of eclipse which can be viewed from Earth, a Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse.
Sun, Earth and Moon in perfect alignment.
A Total Lunar Eclipse can only occur at Full Moon and can be seen from the entire night side of the Earth and looks the same to everyone.
The Sun, Earth and Moon all have to be in perfect alignment. As viewed from Earth the Moon passes through Earth's umbra shadow.
Although the Moon passes through Earth's umbra shadow, light is refracted by the atmosphere of Earth and turns the Moon into a glow of copper red, brown, crimson red, orange or yellow.
Sun, Moon and Earth in perfect alignment.
A Total Solar Eclipse can only occur when there is a New Moon, and only during the daytime. It is only seen by a minority of people along a narrow corridor and appears different according to one’s location.
The Sun, Moon and Earth all have to be in perfect alignment. As viewed from Earth, the Moon covers the Sun, blocking sunlight reaching Earth, and turns daytime into darkness. There is a rapid drop of temperature, and animals begin to bed down for the night.
Annular Solar Eclipse Partial Lunar Eclipse Total Solar Eclipse Penumbra Lunar Eclipse
China, Japan, USA New Zealand, central & E. Australia Australia South America and E. Africa
Transit of Venus 2012 - a Special Year - 05/06 June 2012 - a brief summary
Transit of planet Venus June 2012
Transit’s of Venus across the disk of the Sun are amongst the rarest of planetary alignments.
They are so rare that only seven such transits have occurred since the invention of the telescope. The previous transit of Venus was in 2004, and before that was in 1882..
There is a pattern to the Venusian transits. Previous years they occurred were, 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, and now the transit 05/06 June 2012.
The image on the left shows Venus at contact II (2). Contact II is when the entire disc of Venus is within the disc of the Sun.
The entire disk of the Venus is first seen at contact II when the planet is internally tangent with the Sun. During the next several hours, Venus gradually traverses the solar disk at a relative angular rate of approximately 4 arc-min/hr.
Only certian regions on Earth will be able to view the rare Tansit of Venus. Regions of night time Earth will not be able to view the rare sight of Venus traversing across the Sun's disc. Other regions will be able to view part of the Transit, either at Sunrise or Sunset.
The complete Transit of Venus can be viewed from; Eastern Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Phillipines, North Korea, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Alaska, north west British Columbia, extreme north west Canada, eastern Russian Federation and east Asia region.
This is the last Transit of Venus this century. It does not occur again until the 22nd century, 11 December 2117 and then again on 08 December 2125.
Full moon at Perigee 05/06 May 2012
The Full Moon is at Perigee on 6 May 03:00 Universal Time UT/GMT; its distance 356,953 km / 221,800 miles from Earth. Although the Moon reaches perigee once a month, on this occasion, the Moon will be at its nearest distance to Earth during 2012.
There is much speculation with reports on a supermoon with wild claims about the Moon’s size and brightness. OK, the Moon is 14% bigger than usual, but it is extremely difficult to observe the difference between the Moon at perigee compared to when at its furthest point – apogee.
If two moons were side by side the difference is easily seen, but with just the Moon high in the sky - there is no other reference points with which to compare - one Moon can look much the same as any other.
However, the best time to observe the Moon is when it is near the horizon; the Moon (as does the Sun) has the illusion of being bigger.
Celestial bodies look unnaturally large when they appear near the horizon, appearing through trees, near buildings and other foreground objects, and can look spectacular.
On 5/6 May this Moon illusion will amplify a full Moon that is already 14% extra-big. The swollen Moon rising or setting should look great, but once high in the sky it will look much the same as any other
Australia Total Solar Eclipse November 2012
Important note concerning the date of the solar eclipse
How to make sure that you turn up on the correct day
WHY are two different dates shown on some websites and news articles - the 13th and 14th - what is going on?
The November 2012 Total Solar Eclipse path traverses several time zones and astronomers need to co-ordinate data using a single reference time.
Australia Local Time
The Total Solar Eclipse occurs locally over north east Australia on Wednesday morning 14 November 2012.
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time and GMT - Greenwich Meantime
Astronmers use a co-ordinated single reference time of UTC - Coordinated Universal Time; GMT - Greenwich Meantime.
Using astronomical time theTotal Eclipse Phase Begins 13 November 20:37:03.0, but as Australia is several time zones ahead of GMT, observers from locations within the path of the eclipse have to add their own time difference to that of Greenwich Meantime.
UTC and GMT are for all general purposes the same thing. UTC is sometimes referred to as UT - Universal Time. Unless describing a high accracy of time, all three, UTC, GMT and UT are interchangable.
UTC / UT / GMT Iinternational Time Scale
UTC / UT / GMT is an international time scale used for astronomical and other products to record and predict events. This ensures that the time of an event is universally understood. It avoids ambiguity or confusion. It also avoids confusion about time zones and daylight saving time.
UTC is also the time standard used in aviation, weather forecasts, flight plans, air traffic control clearances and maps,
Total Solar Eclipse - UTC / GMT - 13 November 2012
Using astronomical time the Total Eclipse Phase Begins 13 November 20:37:03.0
The Prime Meridian Greenwich, London England
Astronomical data, computers and civilian time zones throughout the world all use a single reference time which is measured from the Prime Meridian at Greenwich London England. The Prime Meridian is the line of 0° of longitude which divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. All world time zones are either set in front or behind the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
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