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Celestial Christmas Gift 36

Posted by michael from the connecticut-yankee dept.
ggrappone writes: "If you call North America your home you'll be treated to a Christmas day eclipse. This article on CNN describes the rare event in more detail."
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Celestial Christmas Gift More

Celestial Christmas Gift

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  • The effect for most folks will be no more noticable then an high-altitude cloud.

    It may not be extremely "noticeable", in that it's not something that demands attention. But it's definitely perceptible, and (I think) fairly unique. The dimming is not so pronounced as a cloud -- it's a much more gradual change in color and intensity. The only other phenomena I've experienced that brings to pass the same change of character in sunlight are fires; with some big enough blazes in the surrounding area, you get a similar color and subtle intensity shift.

  • More Details (Score:3)

    by maggard ( 5579 ) <michael@michaelmaggard.com> on Sunday December 24, 2000 @07:57AM (#541490) Homepage Journal
    Unfortunately unless one is watching for the eclipse it'll be unnoticable.

    The popular perception of a solar eclipse is the skies & land growing dark as streetlights pop on & birds take cover for the night. While that does indeed happen for a full eclipse a partial one is much less impressive, particularly one as partial as this will be for most folks.

    Taking a 'bite' out of a very bright light-source leaves - a very bright light-source. The effect for most folks will be no more noticable then an high-altitude cloud. The landscape will slowly (imperceptably) dim then later brighten very subtly.

    That said the images of the sun will be very impressive. I'm going to assume a /.'ers know better then to look at the sun directly (sun = bright light in the 'big blue room'.) Even good sunglasses don't generally filter enough, particularly for the extended viewing like this. It *is* possible to permanently harm one's eyes this way and no, your reflexes won't save you if you override them.

    One of the simplest (and thus kewlest) ways to view is to punch a hole in a piece of paper (or tinfoil or whatever else handy) and let the sun shine through. The hole should be ~.25mm and a second surface (prefereably white) ~20-50cm behind it (Your Milage May Vary) This will get you a view approximately the same as the fantastic photos you see but it'll be yours & real-time.

    Good luck. Even for those of us in Northern parts of North America (Montreal) this will be an easy-to-miss event but if one takes the time & effort (& the weather cooperates) it can be an exciting one to catch.

  • Eh? (Score:3)

    by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Sunday December 24, 2000 @06:22AM (#541491) Homepage Journal
    Christmas day eclipse on precisely the Christmas before the Millenium ends? That's a little bit creepy...
  • I beg to differ. There was a partial eclipse in North America during the summer of '94 that was...cool.

    The shadows of things like leaves were altered, rendered in triplicate as if illuminated by three closely-coupled point sources. The ambient levels remained bright but the light had a silvery texture, like the moments before a summer thunderstorm.

    I remember stopping work and going outside with a piece of cardboard and a magnifying glass so I could see the eclipse without staring at it. My cow-orkers followed me outside and someone cranked up Dark Side of the Moon on the CD player. We broke out the cocktails and called it a day, as Marketing was terrified that the Moon was eating the Sun and might not cough it back up. They wanted to start sacrifices and ritual purification and were making some of the female employees nervous with those obsidian knives they always carry.

    Fortunately, one of the engineers went and the Sun reappeared.

    I love a good eclipse, don't you?

    k.
    --
    "In spite of everything, I still believe that people
    are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
  • Yes? What do you want? I'm busy now, call back later.
  • When you hear the phrase "God loves America," the usual reference is to the USA, not North America as a whole.

    But if God loves America, why was Bush elected? (All that proves is that God has a sense of humour)
  • It looks like "Mostly Sunny" for where I live [bigfoot.com] to get good results with a box with the necessary hole and cutout made. Then digital pictures may be able to be taken of the image and posted for all to enjoy.

    Right now, there is that dreaded "lake effect snow" everybody talks about in the Great Lakes region.
    --

  • actually, a few years ago I discovered the ideal way to view a solar eclipse: a CDR

    nearly everyone here's gotta have a bad burned disc or two lying around, just hold up and look through it
  • Heh. You'll be lucky to see ANYTHING in Phoenix. The magnitude increases the farther north and east you go. Phoenix is kinda sadly located for that.

    Here in Oregon we'll get 20-30%, which will only be visible with a projection system, and then only if it's sunny (which it is now...hopefully it can last).
  • Hey, it's 20 minutes 'till Christmas day downunder!
  • In proper countries, it's already Christmas!
  • Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird
    Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid
    Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year
    Seasons return, but not me returns
    Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
    Or sight of vernal bloom, or human face divine;
    But cloud instead, and ever-during dark
    Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
    Cut off, and the Book of knowledge fair
    Presented with a Universal blanc
    Of Nature's works to me expung'd and ras'd,
    And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.
    So much the rather thou Celestial Light
    Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
    Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
    Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
    Of things invisible to mortal sight.

    John Milton, Paradise Lost, III, 38-55



  • This had to happen NOW, didn't it? I'm sure the sun will be just THRILLED to receive this insult, after deciding to be merciful and give in to our pleading. I'll bet now he decides to turn around and not end Winter after all.

    -----
    Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!
  • Will Bill be smiling tomorrow because he reads that "Sun is eclipsed"?

  • If this article hadn't been written, I might have mistook Christmas day's eclipse for a failure to pay the electrical bill. Thanks, Slashdot!

    - Trey
  • Ok, an eclipse would be very cool to see on xmas. Since we aren't getting any snow here in Phoenix, AZ (that's a Very Good Thing (tm)) an eclipse I would like.

    OBwarm-weather-rub-it-in: Xmas time. Was 72 F yesterday here in the valley. Life is good. Got too drunk last nite (that wasn't weather related though...that was martini induced), so the headache ain't too hot, but otherwiase...

    Happy Holidays! =)
  • Christmas morning in Seattle, WA:
    Mostly cloudy with scattered showers.

    Bah! Humbug!

  • The daystar burns my eyes!

  • Re:and for us nerdy night people... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So true! Remember, even though when the sun is being eclipsed, it is still possible to sustain permanent retinal damage. Protect your eyes! I recommend squinting.
  • heavens-above.com [heavens-above.com] has very nice reports on this kind of thing, espically iridium flares and iis sightings. that link is generated by my preferences for east coast data, but that's easy enough to change.
    --
  • RUN! The sun is eclipsed by a huge comet that's heading towards earth!

    --

  • hmm (Score:1)

    by nomadic ( 141991 )
    The last Christmas of the millenium and a rare solar eclipse; its times like these that I'm kind of sorry I'm not superstitious and could get all worked up over it...
    --
  • An in 1997 we were treated to a rare September 2 eclipse.
  • Been there, done that, got the Visigoths to prove it.
  • You see, it's already going to be raining where I'm at. And it's going to be cloudy. I'm also in a living hell: it never gets cold enough to snow. So much for a white Christmas. AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME IT'S GOING TO GET DARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY?

    Consolation: I get a PlayStation2 and you don't!

    It's all about the Karma Points...
    Moderators: Read from the bottom up!

  • I wonder how tramatic this will be to people suffering from seasonal blues... just think, it's winter, everything is dead, the holidays (christmas no less), and now the sunshine is going away..... noooooo, i think god hates me :)

  • Fred Espenak's site is better than any I've seen.

    http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html [nasa.gov]

  • ...of English, so they couldn't see the parallel between Milton's belief in inner sight acquired due to his blindness and the irony of the sun being blotted out just when the days are supposed to be getting longer. And at dawn no less! Or else they thought you can just pull an apropos passage out of Paradise Lost with grep or something, and then just paste it. Or else they just don't like poetry.

    To them I say:

    But, while he was shouting, he saw with surprise
    That the moon of that evening was starting to rise
    Up over his head in the darkening skies.
    "What's THAT?" snorted Yertle. "Say, what IS that thing
    That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
    I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
    I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
    I'll call some more turtles. I'll stack 'em to heaven!
    I need 'bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!"

    Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle.



  • Well, bearing in mind that making broad statements about what pagans do and think is about as valid as making broad statements about "monotheists"...

    There is a great effort not to vilify the winter. So, to the extent that Yule is a celebration, it's a celebration of what the season of cold and dark has taught us. I suppose it is also a collective sigh of relief that we're going back to a time of more pleasant weather and easier living. The Crone is a mean, scary old mother. Just because she brings you wisdom and takes away the things that need to die, doesn't mean that you're not glad when she's replaced by a hot young Maiden.

    I don't think any pagans really think we need to ask the sun to come back. But there is an element of noticing and respecting what the natural world is doing and mirroring it in your own ceremonies. The pagans I celebrated with had one "calling back the sun" story as historical context.

    But anyway, my initial message was a joke...

    -----
    Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!
  • Ditto. Nothing new I can say.
  • Sky and Telescope magazine [skypub.com] has a better article [skypub.com] on the eclipse, with a bigger copy of the maximum eclipse map. [skypub.com]
  • The birth of Christ is going to be overshadowed by the coming of the anticrhist. Merry Antichristmas?
  • But the best view will be in Northern Canada...
  • You'll need either special glasses or telescope filters made especially for this purpose or you can use some welding goggles/helmets. They will need to have a #14 or higher filter in them (unfortunately most welders goggles are only #5 and most welders helmets are only #10, so be careful).

  • That's no moon, it's a space station!

    NightHawk

    Tyranny =Gov. choosing how much power to give the People.

  • Half a million miles is too close! [bbc.co.uk] Believe it or not, the parent of this comment was posted as a random not-so-funny joke...

    --

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