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Science

Total Solar Eclipse at Ceduna, South Australia 144

Posted by michael from the connecticut-yankee dept.
moooooooo writes "The total Solar Eclipse on December 4 is fast approaching with Ceduna in South Australia being one of the better places to observe this rare event. Accomodation was thought to have been booked out but a new site has been set up where you can find more information on the event. Information can be found here and accomodation info is at the bottom of the page. I heard on the radio that they will be setting up a "tent city" for those of us who want to camp out." There's a very impressive eclipse page describing the orbital conditions necessary for an eclipse and listing solar and lunar eclipses coming up.
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Total Solar Eclipse at Ceduna, South Australia More

Total Solar Eclipse at Ceduna, South Australia

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  • Contray to popular belief.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Metallic Matty ( 579124 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:11PM (#4687643)
    staring directly at a solar eclipse is not a good idea..

    • Re:Contray to popular belief.. (Score:5, Informative)

      by prelelat ( 201821 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:24PM (#4687690)
      actually you can stare at a Total eclpise without having to worry about your eyes burning out at all. Its when you view a Partial Eclipse that you will burn your eyes. When the eclpise you can start to view it without protective eye wear. You can even look at it with a telescope. But beware it will only last a few minutes some times even less and then you had better put on your eye protection again.

      When you are viewing a total eclipse what you see for light is actually the Corona of the sun.

      At Start and end of totality, light from solar surface passes through Crevices at the edge of the moon, producing Bailey's Beads(Points of light at the edge of the moon) or a diamond ring effect(One bright spot set upon the silvery corona)

      It is actullay quite amazing though I have never viewed one in real life I seen one on a video in my Atronomy class in university

      A total eclipse is rare because it takes about 54 years and 34 days for the total eclipse to return to (almost) the same area.

      it takes 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days to occure again but it will happen 120 degreese further west due to the rotation of the earth durring that time.

      • Re:Contray to popular belief.. (Score:5, Informative)

        by Malcolm Scott ( 567157 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:29PM (#4687715) Homepage
        actually you can stare at a Total eclpise without having to worry about your eyes burning out at all.
        No. Common misconception. The danger is at the end of the eclipse: your eyes are accustomed to the dark, your pupils are dilated, and suddenly the first Bailey's Bead appears. The Bailey's Beads can be very bright compared to the eclipse itself: the corona is instantly invisible again.
        it takes 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days to occure again but it will happen 120 degreese further west due to the rotation of the earth durring that time.
        Funny then about the one I saw a few years ago (1999?) in Austria...

        • Re:Contray to popular belief.. (Score:5, Interesting)

          by prelelat ( 201821 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:44PM (#4687769)
          "Funny then about the one I saw a few years ago (1999?) in Austria..."

          actually if you saw anything it was probably a partial eclipse where the moon is not quite covering the sun. These are alot more commen and are actually called "Annular Eclipses" these are not good for your eyes at any time. and occure when the moon is at Apogee(farthest distance from the Earth in its orbit) Its umbra shawdow winn not reach earth.

          So to what you said you saw it in 1999 that is not right because eclipses follow a designated path I have included a map of this path and as you can see it passes austria in december of 2002 and in 2013. http://www.uc.edu/geology/geologylist/worldeclipse .gif
          • How about learning some Geography? ;-) Austria != Australia.

            As your map shows, there was a total solar eclipse on Aug 11 1999 passing through Austria (Europe!).

            See also here [nasa.gov], here for photos [sternwarte.at], and here for more reports [mreclipse.com].
            • sorry I miss read it to say australia. anyways whe I was saying was that it is uncommon to happen in the same area for that amount of time. Not that it was in common all together. Eclipses have 2 or 3 seasons each year in which they occure. Some times there total eclipses and some times they are Annular. it all depends on the alignment. Also there are acceptions to the rule in prince edward island there were 2 total eclipses consecutivly in 2 years.(or anouther maritime province I can't remember we just talked about it in class I'll see if I can find some info) this was really rare.
          • That would be Austria (1999 in deed) and not Australia (2002+2013). Different places, you know...

          • It's called the Saros cycle (Score:1, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward
            ...and it reflects the fact that there are multiple "months" which must coincide to produce the "same" eclipse again. You have the synodic month (phases of the moon = 29.530 days), the draconic month (time between moon's passages through same node = 27.212 days) and the anomalistic month (time from perigee to perigee = 27.555 days). 239 anomalistic months ~ 223 synodic months ~ 242 draconic months = 1 Saros or about 18 years, 10 1/3 days. It's the time between "similar" eclipses.

            It's NOT the time between all possible eclipses. Many different (40+) Saros cycles are going on at any one time. There's no way you could see two eclipses from the same Saros in just a few years, but the fact that an eclipse is total is the cool thing for most of us, not the fact that it's part of the same Saros cycle as another eclipse.

            Check out http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html to see one of the best pages out there on this stuff.
        • <BLOCKQUOTE>No. Common misconception. The danger is at the end of the eclipse: your eyes are accustomed to the dark, your pupils are dilated, and suddenly the first Bailey's Bead appears. The Bailey's Beads can be very bright compared to the eclipse itself: the corona is instantly invisible again.</BLOCKQUOTE>

          I disagree; Bailey's Beads aren't that bright, and they appear gradually enough for you to look away. If you keep looking after that without putting on some protective gear, well, it's your own fault.
      • Haiku.

        It still seems stupid
        to stare at the sun, whether
        it's eclipsed or not.

      • A total eclipse is rare because it takes about 54 years and 34 days for the total eclipse to return to (almost) the same area.

        Tukey got a total eclipse in 1999, and will again in 2006 - both total eclipses. (mag 1.029 and mag 1.052) 7 years, not 50. RTFA
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Oh boy! Oh boy! I can't wait!!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by GeckoFood ( 585211 ) <geckofoodNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:15PM (#4687655) Journal

    ...they will be setting up a "tent city" for those of us...

    Now all I need it the airfare to get there, and I'm all set! Oh...I almost forgot...better get permission from the wife...

    Damn. She said no. :-(

    • Re:Oh boy! Oh boy! I can't wait!!! (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      how do I write the sound of a whip
    • My astronomy teacher went to see an eclipse that would be visible in eastern washington, and apparently one of the side effects of eclipses, according to him, is they will cause clouds to form. That's what happened in his case, and 15 years later he's still mad. Permission from wife, that's great... and the reason I'm never getting married!

    • I've had this trip planned for years since I first heard that the eclipse was happening.
      I'll be going down in a big convoy of uni students (from Newcastle on the east coast, take us 3 days of driving).

      The best place to see it will be in Lyndhurst, which is seriously in the middle of nowhere.
      It's a town of 30 people surrounded by barren desert. The 'tent city' is actually going to be a giant music festival [outbackecl...stival.com] lasting 3 days that's in the middle of a meteor crater.
      It's going to be mad, with wacked out hippies, astronomer nerds and gerneral freaks going wild in the desert sands.

      Events even include the Worlds Biggest Twister Game [barrelfullofmonkeys.org] So 3 days of fun and great music and then to finish it all off the moon will block the sun. Man, you will seriously never find a better party on earth!

  • An answer to the "But why Ceduna?" question (Score:4, Informative)

    by PhysicsScholar ( 617526 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:15PM (#4687656) Homepage Journal
    I know everyone here probably knows what an eclipse is, and you all probably appreciate the grandeur exhibited by shadows created with celestial entities.

    But I myself wasn't quite sure why Ceduna in southern Australia was a good place to view it. However, after some research, I found the following information:

    To witness all that this total solar eclipse has to offer, viewing must be within the narrow path of the moon's umbral shadow, which passes directly over Ceduna.

    Although the sun will be partly eclipsed throughout South Australia, and 88% eclipsed from Adelaide, the spectacular effects of this eclipse will not be visible outside the shadow's path due to the intensity of remaining light from the sun.

    Even 99% eclipsed gives you much less than 99% of the 'total eclipse experience'!

    The bottom line: if you are in your parents' basement at the time, you will miss the total eclipse.
    • To witness all that this total solar eclipse has to offer, viewing must be within the narrow path of the moon's umbral shadow, which passes directly over Ceduna.
      Wow! Amazing! To see the eclipse you've actually got to be somewhere where the eclipse is happening!

      I mean seriously, isn't it common knowledge that the eclipse will only be visible from a small area? It's certainly part of pre-university physics here :-) Otherwise you would experience eclipses much more regularly.

      (And BTW, "narrow path" = about 50-150 miles wide IIRC. At least it was in 1999(?) in Europe.)
    • My astronomy professor, who's seen many more solar eclipses than I will in my lifetime, said that the difference between a 99% solar eclipse and a 100% total eclipse is like being 99% pregnant versus 100% pregnant. Either you get the full experience, or it's basically a wash.

      In other words, if you're close to the path of totality, make sure to go see the total solar eclipse, even if it's just a little bit out of your way. It makes a big difference.

      Additionally, this solar eclipse will be right at sunset in Australia. It should be a doubly spectacular sight.

      • 100% total eclipse is like being 99% pregnant versus 100% pregnant. Either you get the full experience, or it's basically a wash

        Having 'seen' many partial eclipses, and then having gone to Hungary for the 8/11/99 Total Eclipse [astro.cz] (we had just over two minutes totality) I have to whole heartedly agree. Though personally I would use the analogy of virginity rather than pregnancy.

        While partial solar eclipses and total Lunar eclipses are entertaining, I can only describe the total eclipse in superlatives like mind-altering, orgasmic, cosmic, spiritual, etc.

        I would disagree that all partials are interchangeable though. You have to get to something like 40%+ to really notice the lensing effect of the natural pin-hole cameras created by leafy trees (little crescent moon shadows are cast on the ground); and you have to get to somewhere like 90% for weather effects like the wind picking up or a noticeble change in temperature - or for the reaction this has on animals like the birds going quite.

        I would eventually like to experience an anular eclipse - which is also a type of partial eclipse, which I imagine will be much like like a total eclipse though I doubt it will be quite the same. My guess is it will be somewhat analogous to sex with a condom vs. sex without a condom. For one thing, you can't view an anular eclipse without protection, like you can a total - so like sex with a one night stand vs sex with your spouse, perhaps?

    • I've been to Ceduna and it's pretty much one of the flattest places on Earth. There is nothing as far as the eye can see and it's so far from the city that there is no chance of any "light interference"

      It's actually quite a pretty place to visit. So much of nothing, but heaps to see..
    • What, watching it off streaming video is missing it? Bummer! I always thought that was the total experience, especially if you have broadband!
    • I suppose it won't even be noticable in queensland....

      crap.

      • Click HERE [nasa.gov] to see a map of how it will look from various parts of Australia. I will try to explain the image...

        The "Path of Total Eclipse" is the space between the two lines with the ellipses between them. You have to be standing somewhere between those two lines to see the 100% total eclipse.

        The XX% lines tell how much of the sun (by diameter, not area, oddly) will be eclipsed if you are standing on that line.

        West of the "Eclipse Ends at Sunset" line the entire eclipse will be visible. Between that line and the "Maximum Eclipse at Sunset" line you will see at least half of the eclipse, including the best part (totality). Between that line and the "Eclipse Begins at Sunset" line you will only see the beginning of the eclipse which wont include totality (which is why they dont even bother to extend the XX% lines that far).

        So, to sum up... Queensland (in general) will have a crappy to moderate (with a tiny section of "great" in the southwest corner that I am ignoring for this summary) view of the eclipse. You will only see the very beginning of the eclipse because the sun will set during the first half of the eclipse. Depending on exactly where you are you could see from a few seconds up to a few minutes of partial eclipse, ranging from 60% to 100% coverage of the sun.

        If you live anywhere in Australia it would be worthwhile to drive a few hours to Ceduna to see the total eclipse. If you cant do that, at least go outside near sundown and see what you can from where you are, even a partial eclipse is an interesting sight (do NOT stare at it!) that you dont get to see every decade.
        • If you live anywhere in Australia it would be worthwhile to drive a few hours to Ceduna

          It's a few days from here to south australia, not a few hours - and I'm only in south-east queensland... North queensland, the top end, and the Kimberlies would be further still.
          • I think my map scale is broken... I make 1000 miles easy on a good day's driving. I admit, thats more than a "few" hours but unless something is horribly wrong with my map I dont see how it could take more than a day to cross Australia, let alone get to a somewhat central spot like Ceduna.
            • Ok just had to check, I know its a little bigger a continent than some of you think. I put in Sydney and Perth in on whereis [whereis.com.au] as driving from and to which are on opposite ends of the country and it gave me:
              Total travel distance: 4041.51 km, Estimated travel time: 54 Hrs 55 Mins
              thats over two days solid of driving!
            • Hahahaha! Nice..... a day to cross the country. 1000 miles takes 13 and a bit hours driving at 120km/h average speed, which is about as fast as you can go without getting booked in australia (outside of the Northern territory). That's assuming you've got a straight highway, with a constant speed limit of 120... not bloody likely. And as I'm rather attached to my limbs, internal organs, my licence, and my car, I would never drive more than 12 hours in one day, and I like to keep it to 10 or less. And it takes 4-5 days of reasonable driving (only 10-20 ks over the limit, 8 hours a day) to cross from sydney to perth, if you really rush it it's 3.
    • But I myself wasn't quite sure why Ceduna in southern Australia was a good place to view it.

      The thing is that Cenduna is in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing for hundreds of kilometers in either direction. Cenduna at least has some services for the hundreds who will show up.

  • To the owner.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by jamesjw ( 213986 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:37PM (#4687747) Homepage

    To the owner of a Blue Mitsubishi Eclipse licence plate ERQ-1343, you left your lights on.

  • Is it not silly
    to create a camp city
    to watch an eclipse?

  • Tent City? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Will_Malverson ( 105796 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:46PM (#4687776) Journal
    Don't those crazy foreigners know that it's almost WINTER?
    • Don't those crazy foreigners know that it's almost WINTER?

      Well, during the eclipse, the corona will be visible. As it is much hotter than the surface of the Sun itself (millions of K vs. 6000K), it should keep you warm.

    • It's summer down here. Yesterday in Adelaide it was 35C, it was 37 a couple of days ago...

  • False. It is not approaching fast. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16, 2002 @06:51PM (#4687795)
    The total Solar Eclipse on December 4 is fast approaching...

    December 4th is approaching at the same rate it always does. One day per day.
  • So I am out late partying. So late that I get home around sunrise. As daylight breaks I fall asleep. What felt like a few hours later I wake up and it is dark out. It seems I slept the day away. So I go back to sleep. What felt like a few hours later I wake up and it is light out. Now I panic.... How long have I been asleep? As the hangover fades my memory returns and I have missed the eclipse in the span of 6 hours of sleep.

  • Outback Eclipse Festival (Score:5, Informative)

    by OzJimbob ( 129746 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @07:02PM (#4687826) Homepage
    The other option is to head to the Outback Eclipse Festival at Lyndhurst [outbackecl...stival.com], in the even more stunning Flinders Ranges. This point is further east than Ceduna, so the eclipse should happen even closer to sunset, and the even comprises a chill-out music festival over several days. I live in Adelaide, and I would be heading here rather than Ceduna (although unfortunately I'm saving for a DIFFERENT holiday so I can't afford to make an appearance!)

  • "total" eclipse in Ithaca (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MacAndrew ( 463832 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @07:02PM (#4687827) Homepage
    I was in school at Cornell several years ago (1995?) when there was a total-but-not eclipse -- and annular solar eclipse [nasa.gov]. The one I saw was not quite like that of the link, but it was a very strange event. For several minutes, it was like daylight but not quite; the light was gray and there were bizarre shadows and diffraction effectcs.

    So not all solar eclipses are alike. It interests me that the Moon and Sun are so similar is apparent (angular) size. The Moon is unique in the solar system for its enormous one-quarter size relative to its planet.

    The link [nasa.gov] has a 1992 photo and numerous tips and links re eclipses generally.
  • More information about the event, including maps can be found here [iinet.net.au].

  • Nice eclipse photos and info online... (Score:5, Informative)

    by EnlightenmentFan ( 617608 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @07:16PM (#4687878) Homepage Journal
    For slashdotters who want to dream about Ceduna, you can link to a boatload of past eclipse photos at "MrEclipse.com" [mreclipse.com].

    One of my favorites shows the 1970 eclipse near total, with a diamond-ring effect". [mreclipse.com] I actually saw that one--it was amazing. When the sky gets dark, the birds figure it's night and go roost in the trees. Beautiful.

    Mr. Eclipse also links to Ceduna info, including an animation of the shadow's path across earth.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • If you intend to go (Score:5, Informative)

    by batty ( 46963 ) on Saturday November 16, 2002 @07:25PM (#4687918) Homepage
    If you're going to see this, there's a couple of things to remember.

    That area is largely arid - it can rightfilly be called desert.

    AND

    It's summer here.

    Temperatures in that area can reach 45C to 50C and water is hard to find outside habitation. Even if you do nothing but lay in your tent you WILL need 4 litres of water per day. You have to drink enough so that you piss clear. (Guide: The darker your urine, the more dehydrated you are)

    No, coffee, Coke and Pepsi aren't a substitute for water, even though they have water in them.

    No, neither is beer, even if it is Cooper's Sparkling Ale.

  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Yup, same thing happened to me. Grade 3. The total eclipse was happening over what was lunch time. They forced everyone to stay in class. Only 1 guy with parental consent was allowed to leave (cuz his dad came to get him). They brought in a TV (you remember those, the big clunky brown TVs with shutters on 6 feet high rollers) for us to watch the eclipse. I still feel robbed.
  • Or is it Haily's comet that is the sign of impending doom? egg
  • Not meaning to offend anyone that lives in the Ceduna area, but I wonder how many of the thousands of people that are going to have a look at the eclipse REALLY know how far Ceduna is from ANYWHERE. I have been there so I'd just like to tell people to be careful on the roads - fatigue gets pretty bad when you are driving in a straight line for hours on end. My suggestion is to break the trip up into at least 2 days - stop off in Port Lincoln - nice place (and you can see where they filmed the Australian version of Survivor!)
  • "... and everything under the Sun is in tune..."
    (Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon)

  • obligatory jack handy quote (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I"m surprised no-one has said this yet:

    "Wouldn't it be great, if in the future you had a time machine. Then you could go back in time and show up in front of a bunch of neanderthals right before a solar eclipse. Then you could tell them that you were going to put the sun out. When the eclipse occurs, they'd probably try to kill you or something. But then you'd explain about the rotation of the moon and earth and everyone would have a good laugh."

    --Jack Handy

    Just paraphrasing from what I remember.
  • Why does it seem that all astronomical events can always be viewed better from Australia and surroundings?

    • If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand... :-)


      Seriously, though, it may be (partly) due to the fact that we haven't fscked up the atmosphere (yet, though some of us are working on it) to the extent that we can see beyond it. Also, we don't have to drive very far to escape the "light pollution" which makes (non-solar-related) observations hard...

    • You mean, like the Leonid meteor showers that weren't visible in the Southern hemisphere ?

      I think "all" and "always" are overstating things a little. I suppose the air is generally less polluted (outside of cities), which would help in viewing these events.

      David.
  • too bad it doesn't look [nasa.gov] like we'll be seeing one of these any time soon :(
  • Cool a total eclipse on my 21st birthday, the only problem I cannot leave work to see it in Australia.
  • The site that the article linked to has a map which shows there will be a big total solar eclipse accross the USA in 2012. :)
  • Watch it on TV dude. Why do want to go all the way there, just to get blind? Whats the big deal?
  • If you're in with the ravers, the Outback Eclipse Festival 2002 [outbackecl...stival.com] at Lyndhurst is a 4-day music festival celebrating the eclipse.

    From inthemix.com [inthemix.com.au], "Day will turn into night as the moon passes directly in front of the sun. This will be the best viewing point in the world to see this 100% solar eclipse."

    "Over 50 international and local live acts and DJs, performing artists, crazy installations, mega shade, free drinking water, chillout village featuring geodesic domes." See you there.
    • The strange thing is that they have to switch of the music, a few hours before, until a few hours after the ecllipse, which if you have ever been to a rave, is a very strange experience...
  • This time, from where I work, yet another 2002 eclipse website [swin.edu.au]

    They plan on having a live braodcast, but somehow I don't think that will work.

  • why I'm headed to Ceduna for 30 secs of totality (Score:3, Interesting)

    by chongo ( 113839 ) on Sunday November 17, 2002 @03:25PM (#4692040) Homepage Journal
    I'm on my way to the Ceduna region for somewhere between 30 and 32 seconds of totality. I'll spend ~2 weeks looking at sites between Canberra and Ceduna, but the highlight will certainly be totality.

    Why go all that way to in the place where the "sun don't shine :-)" for a few seconds? If you have ever seen / experienced a true 100% total eclipse you might understand. I have NEVER seem a photograph do justice to the experience. Not only do photographs fail to present the full dynamic range of the visual, they lack the wind, the temperature drop, the effect on plants, birds, insects, people ... You really have to see and experience a total solar eclipse directly.

    Each eclipse is unique. The shape and size of the solar corona. The colors. Solar prominence positions, shapes, rates of change. Sky brightness. Duration of the diamond rings. Shadow edge sharpness. Shadow band size and change rate. etc. etc. No two eclipses look the same.

    The eclipse near/at Ceduna will have some special features. The short duration is a result of the moon and sun being very near the same size. Long eclipses (such as up 7+ minutes) allow for observation of the inner corona (near the solar disk edge) only near the beginning and end of the Eclipse. Short eclipses offer excellent inner corona views throughout the eclipse. There is a trade-off between inner detail and duration.

    The eclipse will be near sunset. The same optical illusion that makes a full moon near the horizon seem large makes the solar corona (sometimes 2x to 4x the apparent size of the sun/moon disk) seem huge.

    The Sun will set after totality ends but while the moon is partially covering the solar disk. We will watch a crescent sun set. Instead of watching a single point wink out, we will watch two points wink out one after the other. Some are hoping to see a double green flash.

    The Sun should be entering quieter phase of its sunspot cycle. But for the last few months we have seen an unusual degree of activity this late in cycle. A more active sun frequently results in a non-uniform shaped corona. A more active sun frequently results more and unusual numbers of solar prominences.

  • I think that the hype over this solar eclipse has gone too far. Now they want to set up some "tent city" in the tiny outback town of Ceduna. I tell you, this is not the sort of town made to support large tourist populations. Next they will be setting up their loud music and who is going to clean up all the trash left behind. Who else will stand with me? I say, it's time for this eclipse to be CANCELLED and moved to a more appropriate venue.

    -the Concerned Residents Of Ceduna.

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