THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded
January 1970
2021-2022: CVII
"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears."
-Les Brown


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER Friday, April 8, 2022
Solar Eclipse # 1: Two Years from Today!

[image: 391w_pexels-drew-rae-580679.jpg]

Exactly TWO years from today, our region will experience a total solar
eclipse. Although one might think that twenty four months represents a long
time period, in cosmic terms, it's not even three quivers of a
Grungelspurt's flagella. This eclipse is right around the proverbial right
angle and so today we begin a year-long series devoted entirely to the
April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. Unlike the Remote Planetarium, however,
this series will be intermittent, not continuous. We'll return to it from
time to time until April 8, 2023, when we'll post the last of the Solar
Eclipse series articles. If our calculations are correct, we'll then be
merely one year shy of this extraordinary event.

Now, a cynical sort might say, "Hey, like, what's the big deal? The moon is
going to move directly in front of the Sun. Is it really worth all this
hype, hoopla and hysterics?!"
We would respond:

Heavens above, the hype, hoopla and hysterics are certainly not hyperbolic!
We haven't experienced a total solar eclipse here since July 1963! To put
that into perspective, in July 1963:


   - the average price of gas was $0.30
   - the cost to mail a letter skyrocketed that year to $0.05
   - JFK was President
   - and Portland, Maine's population was, well, actually, just about what
   it is now..

However, 1963 was still quite a long time ago!
Besides, observing a total solar eclipse is a genuinely unique experience.
In fact, some people travel the world for the express purpose of watching
total solar eclipses.   (How many of them will venture into Maine in the
storm battered month of April remains to be seen.)

Over the year, we will discuss anything and everything about this eclipse
and eclipses in general.     Their appearances, frequency of occurrence,
the Saros Cycle, safety in viewing, mythological interpretations,
definitions, historical significance, totality path, partial eclipse
region, timing and many other aspects.  Even though this event, meaning
totality, will last about three minutes, so much remains to be discussed
and explained.     Toward that end, we invite you -yes YOU!- to send your
questions about solar eclipses in general and what is now being called the
Great American Eclipse of 2024 in particular.    You might be surprised how
intricately detailed and complex solar eclipses science truly is.

Consider this article as our first step through a vast labyrinth of solar
eclipse knowledge.  Much of it straightforward, some of it a bit less so.
 For the moment, we're standing in the Sun-drenched Atrium looking up at
the unbounded cerulean blue visible through the domed windows.   Soon,
we'll venture into the depths.

For now, know that we'll experience a total solar eclipse on the afternoon
of April 8, 2024.  While the eclipse will only be total along a path
running through the northern and western parts of Maine, it will still turn
the skies dark all around New England and the eastern United States. See
image below:

[image: Screen-Shot-2017-08-21-at-4.24.11-PM-1024x576.png]

On Monday we'll post Solar Eclipse # 2: Solar Eclipse Basics.
On Tuesday, we'll move onto another topic, but, as mentioned before, we'll
be returning to the solar eclipse series many times.


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