StarWatch: Moravian University Astronomy

APRIL 2024

APRIL STAR MAP | MOON PHASE CALENDAR | STARWATCH INDEX | NIGHT SKY NOTEBOOK

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lunar phases

1442 APRIL 7, 2024: Eclipse Day is Here: Here are some final tips and information for viewing the April 8 total solar eclipse specific to the Lehigh Valley. All start and finish times for the eclipse are essentially the same for Southeastern Pennsylvania. StarWatch is being sent ahead of schedule so that individuals have a few days to prepare in case arrangements still need to be completed. This eclipse will be dangerous throughout its entirety because the sun will always be visible. If you have yet to purchase solar glasses for a safe viewing experience, check with Dan's Camera City in Allentown to inquire about their availability. Dan's address is 1439 W Fairmont St, Allentown, PA 18102/Phone: (610) 434-2313. * NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use sunglasses, multiple pairs of sunglasses, UV (ultraviolet) absorbing sunglasses, colored cellophane, colored filters, neutral density filters (from photo stores), polarizing filters, fully exposed color negatives, or fully exposed black and white (silver less) photographic negatives, or glass smoked by the soot of a candle flame to make filtered, direct observations of the sun. All of these techniques can cause retinal burns and vision loss. Finally, NEVER use a dark absorbing filter attached to the eyepiece end of a telescope. A telescope's primary function is to gather light to make objects appear brighter. Typically, even small telescopes and binoculars gather dozens to hundreds of times the light the eye receives. A telescope focuses this intense light and hotter solar image near the position of the dark absorbing filter for inspection by the eye. The absorbed light will cause the filter to become very hot and can lead to breakage and, almost inevitably, permanent damage to the eye of an unsuspecting observer. I have bummed cigarettes from my students and lit them at the eyepiece end of a telescope to prove that fact! * A number 14 welder's shade will provide adequate protection, as will other suggestions, which can be found here. Scroll down to Gear and Techniques. Stay calm, stay focused, stay safe, and enjoy the natural wonder of a solar eclipse. Ad Astra!

1443

APRIL 14, 2024: Eclipse Weather Angst

Finally, we witnessed it, the brilliant totality of a solar eclipse in Derby, Vermont, under a sky that was mostly clear; but that's all I'll reveal for now. Next week, I'll delve into the details of the eclipse, but if you're eager to see what we saw, I invite you to visit this link. I need a few days to decompress, reflect, write, and prepare a talk for the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society, as well as classes. Because of a time crunch, I wrote the bulk of this StarWatch blog before the eclipse, outlining the stresses our group experienced in finding a clear viewing location. * This chase was one of the most demanding astronomical events I have yet encountered. I had been under a sleep deficit for several weeks as I pondered the cloud maps from numerous weather sources. Remember that two weeks before an astronomical event, anyone trying to predict a place to watch this shadow game created by the moon and sun is similar to playing Pin the Tail on Donkey and expecting an easy win. * The sweet spot would begin revealing itself about one week before the event, and even then, the prediction only had a 10 percent accuracy. The best climatological location for this eclipse was Texas, where temperatures would be warmer and the time in the moon's shadow longer. Statistically, cloud cover was not negligible, around 50 percent, but other areas in the central US, the Midwest, and the Northeast were dismal in comparison. * Yet from the first weather map on March 28, eleven days before the eclipse, the predictions indicated that most of the Lone Star State would be eclipsed by cloud cover. Meteorologists employed by The Washington Post suggested that Texas was in the tank, the central US and Midwest were iffy, but the New England states looked favorable. One day before E-day, with forecast accuracy approaching 90 percent, conditions remained relatively consistent with the basic cloud patterns predicted near the end of March. I expected significant shifts in the forecast, but they did not materialize. * The adage that climate is what you expect, but weather is what you get defied the norm once again. Sitting in my Holiday Inn Express motel room, I noticed that the entire track from Texas to the Vermont border might not have a clear view of totality. Thank goodness, conditions improved in many areas; however, Vermont seemed to have an increasing probability of high wispy cirrus clouds by late afternoon on E-day. * That is what happened, but it was a minor detriment to totality. Upstate New Hampshire and Maine had the best views of this eclipse under flawless skies, precisely the opposite of climatological data. * Staging ourselves in Albany, New York, we compromised because of expected road traffic and chose Derby, Vermont, as our viewing area. We found the Newport (VT) Church of God willing to allow us use of their property and, even more importantly, their bathroom facilities. Thank you, Bishop Wall and Sally Wall. * Moon and sun rendezvoused on time and in a spectacular conjunction, with all of us returning safely and happily to Albany early on the morning of April 9. More details about the April 8 total solar eclipse will follow next week; but for now, view the pictures. Ad Astra!

1444 APRIL 21, 2024: Eclipse Success: Our group was in Derby, Vermont, at about 6:30 a.m., pulling into a Walmart Superstore parking lot, a four-hour drive from Albany, New York. Although spaces were still available, it was obvious that several hundred cars, vans, and RVs had camped there overnight. Restrooms were filled, one teen brushing his teeth by a sink. * We found a breakfast nook, Roasters Café and Deli about a mile down the road, an inconspicuous-looking place with a parking lot at near full capacity. We claimed its last free table. The staff seemed quite overwhelmed but friendly and accommodating, and the breakfast for me, a cheese omelet with bacon, home fries, toast, and coffee, was delicious. E-day was upon us. * After breakfast, we located Crawford Farm Road and the Newport Church of God, where we had been given permission the day before by Bishop Laurence H. Wall and his wife Sally to make camp and observe the eclipse. Circling the macadam pavement several times, we parked on the north end of the lot with the church facing in the direction where totality would occur. * Gradually others from our group wandered in, most feted at Roasters, and by 10:00 a.m., enthusiasts were unfolding lounge chairs, and assembling astronomical equipment. It was an odd-looking tailgate-like assemblage, but with tripods, telescopes, mounts, binoculars, and other assorted astronomical gear instead of barbeque grills, and happy fans soaring Frisbees here and there. * By 10:30 a.m., everyone was ready for the big event that would begin not quite four hours into the future at 2:16 p.m. * The expectation of the first bite of sunlight hidden by the advancing moon was easily noticed about a minute after first contact. The wait was over, but the interval until totality would still be 70 minutes into the future. * It seemed to take forever for the moon's leading limb to cover 60 percent of the sun's diameter. That's because the eclipse was being created by a disk nearly the same apparent diameter as the sun's orb. Less than 50 percent of Sol had yet to be obscured at its farthest location away from the moon's leading edge. However at this juncture, temperatures were rapidly dropping, especially with some snow still on the ground, and I felt the necessity of putting on a light jacket. * Ten minutes before totality, our surroundings were becoming surreal, with diminished sunlight, sharper shadows, and a yellowish hue blanketing the landscape. The last minute was genuinely spectacular, as moment by moment the sun's light perceptively dimmed. The leading edge of the approaching shadow ominously darkened more and more of the heavens. Light on the ground rapidly yellowed, and shadows faded to imperceptibility. Looking at Sol, safely for the first time without filters to catch the diamond ring and the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona, I saw the last vestiges of sunlight accented by a bright, sparkling jewel rapidly waning into totality to complete the marriage of sun and moon. * My eyes could not compensate for the rapid decrease in light, so the landscape appeared darker at the beginning of totality than near its end. The surrounding horizon was bathed in a yellowish-orange twilight glow. At those locations, observers witnessed a nearly eclipsed sun with cooler limb temperatures producing a warmer hue over the landscape just like we had seen minutes before totality. People shouted, screamed, and yelled in exuberance. Exultations from people in downtown Derby about three blocks away were recorded on a video capturing the diamond ring. * A total solar eclipse is the most visually stimulating astronomical event an individual can possibly witness. I'm convinced our love and fear of them are embedded in our DNA. Everyone deserves and should attempt to witness at least one of them, a day when two sunsets and two sunrises sets the world apart from all the others. Images of my trip are linked here. Ad Astra!

1445 APRIL 28, 2024: Six Eclipses in the Past 30 Months: It's a game of chance when it comes to witnessing an astronomical event from our local area. The odds are often stacked against us, but in a way that's part of the thrill. If you're a fan of playing in the shadows of the moon or the Earth, mobility is your key to success, and that was certainly the case with four of the six eclipses that I will describe briefly in this article.
Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse, November 18/19, 2021: I remember departing my Thursday Moravian class in the rain at 9:30 p.m., not expecting to witness this near-total lunar eclipse. Two hours later, the sky transformed, becoming broken with scudding cumulus clouds that rapidly decreased to an almost clear sky. This allowed me to observe and capture the eclipse through a 5-inch refractor. The night sky darkened, and the winds calmed, etching the reddened moon against a wintery backdrop of the Pleiades, Taurus, and Orion, a sight I shall always remember.
Total Lunar Eclipse, May 16, 2022: Peter Detterline and I chased this eclipse into western PA to obtain clearer skies. An elderly woman permitted us to observe the event near her home in the front of her barn. Although clouds rolled in and out that evening, there were long periods when the eclipsed moon was visible against a brilliant canopy of stars, which for me made this event very memorable. My images of totality, taken through a 4-inch refractor, showed more background stars than any other eclipse I had ever recorded.
Total Lunar Eclipse, November 8, 2022: This was the patriotic eclipse because the moon was still experiencing totality during dawn when the sky began to become blue against a reddened moon near to the horizon. Moravian students and I observed from Collier's Sky Deck starting about 3 a.m. well into dawn, recording the eclipse as the most colorful I have ever witnessed because of the brightening blue sky.
Total Solar Eclipse, April 20, 2023: Peter Detterline and I chased this hybrid eclipse, part annular, part total, to the North West Coast of Australia about 800 kilometers north of Perth. We rendezvoused with the moon's shadow on the Pacific Explorer under a saturated blue canopy. However, the wind was a different matter, causing the anchored ship to yaw back and forth. I imaged with a tripoded DSLR camera and 135mm lens and got unexpectedly good results. The most memorable moment was about 30 seconds before the diamond ring when the sky became brownish in hue, very surreal against the still brilliant orb of the sun's last vestiges of light. Totality lasted only 60 seconds, but I achieved my goal of capturing the ingress and egress diamond rings and more.
Annular Eclipse, October 14, 2023: Jesse Leayman and I met up with Peter Detterline and friends at the Mars Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah, to view this ringed eclipse and to help to refurbish the MDRS Robotic Observatory to which Moravian University has a 25 percent timeshare usage. My goal here was to capture Baily's beads at the start and end of annularity. Using the cesium clocks (atomic time) located near Fort Collins, Colorado and precise information generated at our observing location, the sun's light shining through the valleys between mountain peaks on the moon's limb was recorded successfully just before and after annularity. Jesse also created a beautiful video of the annular event using his 4.25-inch Astroscan 2001 reflector.
Total Solar Eclipse, April 8, 2024, Derby, Vermont: I don't ever remember a more stressful eclipse, but our group lucked out with the weather, which would have been overcast had we been just 50 miles to the west, our original destination. All aspects of the eclipse were imaged successfully through thin cirrus clouds. I also wanted to spend more time watching totality visually. I caught both diamond rings and probably spent about two minutes simply looking with the unaided eye and through binoculars which is perfectly safe during totality.
Eclipse-wise, the last 30 months have been a rush. Ad Astra!