The Moonlike Sun

Image Credit: (left) Surya Grahan

It’s 9:45 am and right now the sun looks like a crescent moon. At 08:50:35 the axis of the Moon’s shadow passed a mere 510 km above northern Sweden. Today’s partial eclipse has a maximum magnitude of 0.8576. It started at 06:40:11 GMT and will conclude at 11:00:54 GMT. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre produce high quality astronomical data for eclipse events and for those wanting techincal details, read Fred Espenak’s report on today’s eclipse. You can make your own viewing apparatus by following Mark Resnicoff’s guide for pinhole projection. Enjoy it safely everyone. You’ll need your eyes for all the other wonderful astronomical events coming this year!

Image Credit: Wikipedia

The morning has an evening feel to it. Darken the sky and the eclipse looks like a partial moon. You could easily mistake day for night. It’s fantastic moments like these  that make my day.