Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Chinese New Year Solar Eclipse

In Singapore, we are lucky to catch the partial eclipse that began from 4:30pm to 6:30pm on first day of the Chinese New Year. The maximum eclipse was at 5:49pm. The sun was the western sky and during maximum eclipse, 72% of it were covered up by the moon! It's really an impressive sight. But the stupid clouds just kept blocking our view when it about maximum eclipse!

In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface. In an annular eclipse, a tiny shift in distance that results from celestial mechanics means the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's face, as it does in a total eclipse.

This is the only annular solar eclipse this year. The last was on 7 February 2007, and the next will be on 15 January 2010. But the big event for eclipse junkies this year is on 22 July, when a total solar eclipse will be visible from India and China.

Is this a bad omen to start the Year of the OX? I've seen a documentary on National Geographic that there's some link between the distance between earth & moon and earthquake. Will post the article later.

0 Comments: