Friday 1 August 2008

Solar Eclipse

Today was the solar eclipse day ... see pictures on the NASA website.

The eclipse was not total in the UK; 36% of the sun was blocked by the moon whilst watching from the Shetlands. In Newcastle, it began at 9:26 AM, with the maximum eclipse at 10:18 AM. The eclipse reached totality in northern Canada, Greenland, Russia and northern bits of China.

The next eclipse coming our way is the partial (reaching 80%) lunar eclipse on the evening of 16th August 2008.

Eclipses occur in cycles called as the Saros series. Read about it in the new Newsletter of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Astronomical Society.

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