Talk:Solar eclipse

Add a URL

{{editprotected} I want to add a URL: SEMMThere is some information about meteorological measurements during solar eclipse} —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mmachon (talk • contribs) 18:14, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Moon foter

Do you think that it would be appropriate to add the following Moon footer to this page?

Lunokhod 10:20, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Looks appropriate to me. Nick Mks 18:33, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Media Links

Why were the media links removed? I eventually found them, but why create another page? Mythology is the reason man looked to the skys in the first place. Without the mythology there would be no modern day astronomy? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.150.85.144 (talk • contribs) 15:33, 14 December, 2006 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, I have no idea what you are referring to. If you mean Solar eclipses in fiction, that was done because the section and the article were getting too large... Nick Mks 17:33, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

? ==

ihave been hearing about men being on the moon during asolar eclipse. is this possible? i need someone to answer my question asap! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tshah21 (talk • contribs) 22:46, 29 January 2007 (UTC).

There were only people on the Moon during the Apollo missions - you can check the dates at Project Apollo#Manned_missions. You can check the Moon phases at http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html . Solar eclipses only take place at new moon, when the side of the Moon facing the Earth is in darkness. I expect the Apollo management to have used their senses and only had men on the Moon during daylight, i.e. around full moon. You can check whether there was a lunar eclipse instead during the Apollo missions from the 10-year tables at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/lunar.html . Tom Peters 11:40, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually, TP, it was preferred to have the landings in the lunar morning; some were before the 1st quarter. The surface would be hotter later. I think another factor would have been the longer shadows would be better for seeing objects in landings Saros136 11:56, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Energy Puzzle

the article says that the moon is slowly moving away from the earth so where then is the energy coming from to achieve that? it does not say

It is the rotational energy of the earth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.169.242.191 (talk • contribs)

also, is a partial eclipse possible which is not visible from the mediteranean latitudes? and is a total eclipse possible which is not visible from the mediteranean latitudes? --83.105.33.91 13:15, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, both are possible and occur very often. Nick Mks 12:12, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

1919 Observations

What was really measured in 1919 ? Is the light light bend by 0.87“ or 1.74“ and how was the displacement measured ? I heard at least three versions.

1. The relative position of two stars were measured with and without the sun between them probable measured with the same instrument some hours or days between the measurements.
2. The position of about 12 stars were measured during the 1919 solar eclipse and several months later.
3. The position of about 12 stars were measured during the 1919 solar eclipse and several months before.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.169.242.191 (talk • contribs)

An extensive description can be found at [1]. Nick Mks 12:12, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Antikythera Mechanism

this device predicted solar eclipses. did it predict ones which were not visible from the mediteranean lattitudes?
--83.105.33.91 12:25, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Spiritual

I have issue with the spiritual "However, the spiritual attribution of solar eclipses is now largely disregarded." Although I think what this is basically saying is that few people believe solar eclipses are completely spiritually based, I think it also hints that any beliefs about the spiritual significance of such an eclipse (regardless of causation) is nonsense, which certainly undercuts some people's, specifically Animist and what some people call "primative", beliefs. Corbmobile 16:59, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

It would be great if this article included information on eclipses in mythology and spirituality. Wikipedia is not just about facts, it's also about human beliefs. There is no reason why an article cannot contain both physical and mythological/spiritual elements. e.g. http://www.earthview.com/ages/myths.htm --192.48.8.5 02:29, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

This is not my turf, but as long as you remain factual, feel free to add this kind of stuff. Nick Mks 17:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

vision/blindness?

I came to this article looking for the ill effects to the eyes or vision of looking at a solar eclipse. it does mention it's important near the end, but no further discussion. i only skimmed the section titles mostly, but that tells enough. i heard back in the day "don't look up" at it, to it's harmless. i'd have loved to read some discussion on that. is there *at least* an appropriate article elsewhere within wikipedia that should be linked to? but rather, I think the concern is that something should be written on it here. Nastajus 06:04, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

The first link under eye safety in the external links is a very good source. I don't know whether there are other articles inside Wikipedia on this, but I think the mention in this one is sufficient. Nick Mks 07:55, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Solar Projector

Get a mirror, set it up to reflect sunlight, which will be a circular image, on to a large bed sheet. I have done this and, not only did I watch a few of these, so did a whole town. In my case, I projected the solar image on a old building, not at people. It is like making a device for personal use, only that multiple people can see it. Did you play with mirrors as a kid ? Seen that circle of light ? That is the image of the sun. Now imagine that being seen as the sun is being eclipsed. I rigged one up at school, and the whole school saw the eclipse as it was happening, w/o even looking towards the sun at all, much less being blinded by directly looking at the sun itself. 65.163.112.128 (talk) 03:16, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

One guy, who was a amature astronomer said, when he saw my projector, "Son-of-a-bitch! Why the fucking hell did'nt I think of that ?!" 65.163.112.128 (talk) 03:20, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Historical eclipses (and Good Friday)

The "historical eclipses" section of the article currently includes the following:

It has also been attempted to establish the exact date of Good Friday by means of solar eclipses, but this research has not yielded conclusive results. [C. J. Humphreys and W. G. Waddington (22 December 1983). Dating the Crucifixion. Nature, Vol. 306, No. 5945, 743–746.]

AFAIK, this is a mischaracterization of Humphreys and Waddington's work. They proposed that the lunar eclipse of AD 33 was associated with the crucifixion of Jesus; box hill senior state footy 2007 see Crucifixion eclipse#Crucifixion eclipse models for more detail.

The article also says the following in the same section:

Research has manifested the inability of total solar eclipses to serve as explanations for the recorded Good Friday features of the crucifixion eclipse. [M. Kidger (1999). The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer’s View. Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 68–72.]

Since the crucifixion occurred at Passover time (which is always at full moon), a solar eclipse could not possibly have been associated with that date, and the above sentence is a serious understatement.

I would suggest that the entire paragraph with the above two sentences should be replaced with a new paragraph, briefly explaining that while some have suggested the events of the crucifixion of Jesus might have involved a solar eclipse, this is in fact not possible (and include a reference/link to the Crucifixion eclipse article).

Richwales 23:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)