THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Founded January 1970
2022-2023: LXXXV
Sunrise: 6:06 a.m.
Sunset: 7:20 p.m.
Civil twilight begins: 5:36 a.m.
Civil twilight ends: 7:49 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Pisces
Moon phase: Waning gibbous (69% illuminated)
Moonrise:1:55 a.m. (4/12/2023)
Moonset: 10:aa a.m. (4/12/2023)
Julian date: 2460046.29
            "If life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic."
                           -Seen on a bumper sticker


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
The Other Solar Eclipse


__________________________________
363 days until the April 8, 2024 eclipse!
__________________________________

Although 99.9996% of all the attention is now focused on the April 8, 2024
spectacle, we should devote some time to the 'other solar eclipse' that
will occur on October 14, 2023. While this eclipse won't be total, it will
serve as a lovely precursor to the main event: the Hobbit to April 8th's
Lord  of the Rings.

Along the totality path, this eclipse will be annular, meaning that the
moon will cover most of the solar disk.  During the total phase, a thin
ring of sunlight  will  remain visible, hence the name 'annular,' from the
Latin term 'annulus,' meaning 'ring.'

As we can see from the image below,  the totality path will slice through
North and South America.
[image: map2d-370x195.png]
[image  credit: Timeanddate.com]

However, we northeastern observers will see only a partial eclipse.   The
below image, also from Timeanddate.com, shows the maximum eclipse here in
Portland, Maine

[image: download.png]

The Portland ME timetable:

*Partial eclipse begins    12:21:00 p.m.    Sat, October 14*
This is the first moment  the moon 'touches' the  solar disk

*Maximum eclipse:  1:25:50 p.m.    Sat, October 14*
The  moment when the moon's obscuration of the Sun is at a maximum.
The maximum  magnitude will be 0.262.   The obscuration will be 15.2%*
*Partial eclipse ends:   2:30:16 p.m.  Sat, October 14*

We won't notice much of a light change.  All forms of wildlife will remain
blissfully indifferent  to the slight  obscuration and spirits will likely
remain stubbornly unelevated. All the same, the October 14th event will
give us a glimpse of what we'll experience in April 2024.



** Magnitude *refers to the percentage  of the solar diameter the moon
blocks.  The  *obscuration *measures the percentage  of the solar disk the
moon covers.   For this partial eclipse, 26.2% of the solar disk;s diameter
is blocked. However, this equates to 15.2% of the solar disk.
The chart below shows the relation between various values of magnitude and
obscuration.
[image: data.gif]


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