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
(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
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363 days until the April 8, 2024 eclipse!
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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 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
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.
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