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posted by hubie on Thursday February 15 2024, @06:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the far-out dept.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/daily-telescope-a-solar-eclipse-from-the-surface-of-mars/

Good morning. It's February 12, and today's image is a real treat from the surface of Mars.

In it we see the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passing in front of the Sun.

[...] NASA released a bunch of these raw images last week, and planetary scientist Paul Byrne helpfully put them into a video sequence that can be seen here.

[...] Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

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Annular Solar Eclipse October 2023 and Total in April 2024 - 20231002
NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Video of Solar Eclipse on Mars - 20220422
How to Watch Rare "Ring of Fire" Solar Eclipse - 20210609
Coming Jan 31st: a Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse - First Time in 150 Years - 20180105


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Related Stories

Coming Jan 31st: a Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse - First Time in 150 Years 38 comments

According to a report at phys.org, The moon is about to do something it hasn't done in more than 150 years:

Three separate celestial events will occur simultaneously that night, resulting in what some are calling a super blue blood moon eclipse. The astronomical rarity hasn't happened for more than 150 years.

A super moon, like the one visible on New Year's Day, is the term for when a full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, appearing bigger and brighter than normal.

On Jan. 31, the moon will be full for the second time in a month, a rare occasion—it happens once every two and a half years—known as a blue moon.

To top it off, there will also be a total lunar eclipse. But unlike last year's solar eclipse, this sky-watching event isn't going to be as visible in the continental United States. The best views of the middle-of-the-night eclipse will be in central and eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, although Alaska and Hawaii will get a glimpse, too.

For the rest of the U.S., the eclipse will come too close to when the moon sets for the phenomenon to be visible.

Because of the way the light filters through the atmosphere during an eclipse, blue light is bounced away from the moon, while red light is reflected. The eclipsed moon's reddish color earned it the nickname blood moon.

Super blue blood moon?

So, an extremely noble or socially prominent moon? ;)

I wonder what differences, if any, there would be in the appearance of the Earth from a person standing on the moon, compared to a "normal" full moon?


Original Submission

How to Watch Rare "Ring of Fire" Solar Eclipse 12 comments

[Ed note: if anyone happens upon a better link about the eclipse — where and when it is visible — please post it to the comments!

How to watch next week's rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse:

Last month's "super flower blood moon" lunar eclipse was hardly the only exciting celestial event of the season. Next week brings an even bigger spectacle — a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse.

On June 10, skywatchers all over the world will be able to view the eclipse.

[...] A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, completely blocking the sun's light. During an annular solar eclipse, the moon does not completely cover the sun as it passes, leaving a glowing ring of sunlight visible.

An annular eclipse can only occur under specific conditions, NASA says. The moon must be in its first lunar phase, and it must also be farther away from Earth in its elliptical orbit, appearing smaller in the sky than it usually would.

Because the moon appears smaller under these circumstances, it cannot fully block out the sun, forming what's called a "ring of fire" or "ring of light."

"As the pair rises higher in the sky, the silhouette of the Moon will gradually shift off the sun to the lower left, allowing more of the Sun to show until the eclipse ends," NASA said.

[...] It is essential to wear special solar eclipse glasses to protect your eyes while viewing the celestial phenomenon. Looking directly at the sun is dangerous and can damage your eyes.

This is just one of two solar eclipses in 2021. A total solar eclipse will be visible on December 4.

Also at CNN, PhysOrg, c|net, and SciTechDaily.


Original Submission

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Captures Video of Solar Eclipse on Mars 9 comments

The Mastcam-Z camera recorded video of Phobos, one of the Red Planet’s two moons:

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has captured dramatic footage of Phobos, Mars’ potato-shaped moon, crossing the face of the Sun. These observations can help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the Red Planet’s crust and mantle.

Captured with Perseverance’s next-generation Mastcam-Z camera on April 2, the 397th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, the eclipse lasted a little over 40 seconds – much shorter than a typical solar eclipse involving Earth’s Moon. (Phobos is about 157 times smaller than Earth’s Moon. Mars’ other moon, Deimos, is even smaller.)

[...]. “I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t expect it to be this amazing,” said Rachel Howson of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, one of the Mastcam-Z team members who operates the camera.

[...] Color also sets this version of a Phobos solar eclipse apart. Mastcam-Z has a solar filter that acts like sunglasses to reduce light intensity. “You can see details in the shape of Phobos’ shadow, like ridges and bumps on the moon’s landscape,” said Mark Lemmon, a planetary astronomer with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who has orchestrated most of the Phobos observations by Mars rovers. “You can also see sunspots. And it’s cool that you can see this eclipse exactly as the rover saw it from Mars.

Kudos to the orbitologists who knew the positions of all the appropriate bodies and got the timing right. The really cool video is also up on YouTube (but I don't think you would call this an annular eclipse since nothing looks like an annulus!)


Original Submission

Annular Solar Eclipse October 2023 and Total in April 2024 2 comments

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses/home/

Safety is the number one priority when viewing a solar eclipse. Be sure you're familiar with and follow these safety guidelines when viewing an eclipse.
[...]
Quick fact:
The U.S. will experience the next two solar eclipses: an annular in October 2023 and a total in April 2024. You can see the paths and download the map of these eclipses here. See Also: Annular Solar Eclipse: October 14, 2023
Total Solar Eclipse: April 8, 2024

from Annular solar eclipse 2023: Everything you need to know about North America's 'ring of fire' eclipse

Roughly 11 years after the same type of solar eclipse crossed the U.S. Southwest on May 20, 2012, this one will be visible from a similar region, crossing eight U.S. states from Oregon to Texas, according to NASA.

During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun, so it can't block the entire disk. The result is a beautiful "ring of fire." Here's everything you need to know about this rare event.

The Total Solar Eclipse event on April 8, 2024 will be a Partial Solar Eclipse in the UK. Solar and Lunar Eclipses in Europe – Next 10 Years


Original Submission

Here's Our Comprehensive, In-Depth Guide to Viewing the North American Total Solar Eclipse 12 comments

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/03/heres-our-comprehensive-in-depth-guide-to-viewing-the-total-solar-eclipse/

If you enter "how to see the eclipse" into your favorite search engine, you're bound to see thousands—millions?—of helpful guides. Some of these are extremely detailed and thorough, almost as if the author were getting paid by the word or augmented by AI.

In reality, seeing a solar eclipse is just about the easiest thing one can do in one's life. Like, it's difficult to think of anything else that has the greatest reward-lowest effort ratio in life. You just need to know a couple of things. For the sake of simplicity, here is Ars' four-step guide to having a four-star eclipse-viewing experience. Steps are listed in order of ascending importance.

[...] In reality, a total solar eclipse is probably going to be the most spectacular celestial event most of us see in our lifetimes. Certainly, there could be more spectacular ones. A supernova within 100 light-years of Earth would be amazing. Witnessing a large asteroid streaking through Earth's atmosphere before impact would be incredible.

Unfortunately, those would also be lethal.

Related stories on SoylentNews:
Daily Telescope: A Solar Eclipse From the Surface of Mars - 2024-02-14
Annular Solar Eclipse October 2023 and Total in April 2024 - 2023-10-02
NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Video of Solar Eclipse on Mars - 2022-04-22
How to Watch Rare "Ring of Fire" Solar Eclipse - 2021-06-09
Coming Jan 31st: a Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse - First Time in 150 Years - 2018-01-05


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  • (Score: 2) by stormreaver on Thursday February 15 2024, @07:21PM (2 children)

    by stormreaver (5101) on Thursday February 15 2024, @07:21PM (#1344647)

    What immediately jumped out at me what that either the camera is colored in multicolored dust, or someone added a bunch of fake stars to the picture.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday February 15 2024, @08:39PM

      by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 15 2024, @08:39PM (#1344656) Journal

      Neither. That's noise from a very fast digital exposure.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by looorg on Thursday February 15 2024, @10:00PM

      by looorg (578) on Thursday February 15 2024, @10:00PM (#1344665)

      Those are probably demonic gates opening up on Phobos so that Doomguy have things to shoot at.

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