THE USM SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249     www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street     Portland, Maine  04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W
Altitude:   10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian date:  2458579.35
2018-19:   CXIX
         "Hey, at least we're slowly catching up..."


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, April 8, 2019
Five Years from Now

let's hope we're not looking forlornly through descending snow toward a
light year thick bank of lead-dense cumulonimbus clouds while the total
solar eclipse occurs wholly unseen by us. Just having snow in April -such
as well, now- makes us so mad we could groin kick a cyclops.    Having
wintry weather occlude a solar eclipse will truly strain our preternatural
capacity for politeness.     Five years from now, the moon will move
directly in front of the Sun from our perspective and we'll -weather
permitting- observe a total solar eclipse.

Why, one might ask, are we already discussing an event that is literally
half a decade in the future?   Because, as planetarium astronomers, we know
that five years passes as rapid blinks in the fourteen billion year old
cosmos.  (We also know that eclipse-related accoutrements such as eclipse
glasses will become so precious and scarce in about four years that even
devout pacifists  will be stick fighting over them.   It is time to start
the preparations.)

[image: static1.squarespace.com.png]

Five years from now -April 8, 2024- we'll experience the next "Great
American Eclipse."    The totality path will slice along Mexico, through
the United States -including Maine- and into the maritime regions of
Canada.  (Note: As Portland, ME will not be in the totality path, 97% of
the state's population will have to travel to witness the event.)     And,
what an event it will be!!  (See below)

[image: uFNvccythbBe8xyAk9Yd5Q-320-80.jpeg]
Five years from now, we might behold the above spectacle.  The full moon
completely covering the Sun, thereby enabling us to observe the rarefied
corona.     While totality won't last long, the sight will certainly leave
an indelible impression on those fortunate enough to observe it.     A bona
fide miracle of celestial mechanics.

Five years from now, we'll hopefully be amidst a crowd of hundreds or
thousands of souls gazing up the heavens and shuttering a bit at the
strange and untimely onset of darkness.

Five years from now, we have no idea what will transpire with the weather.
Astronomy allows us to predict celestial events many centuries in the
future.     Meteorology can't predict the weather in a fortnight, let alone
five years.

Five years from now, the world will reserve a moment to admire father Sun
and mother Moon conjoining in the day sky.    Right now, it is quiet...the
dormancy preceding the festival.     Yet, we're preparing
already....because five years from now, we'll say, where did those last
five years go?