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On December 4, a total eclipse of the sun will take place, the first since December 14 of last year, when the moon's dark umbral shadow darkened portions of the South Pacific, Argentina, and the South Atlantic. Many eclipse chasers passed on last year's eclipse because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The chances of a small group of people seeing the solar eclipse are excellent. Where does one go to see the moon completely blotting out the sun?
How does the land of the penguins strike you?
There is a total solar eclipse on December 4.
The total solar eclipse of December 14, 2020 can be seen from Argentina. The image was taken byRonaldo Schemidt.
The story of the moon's shadow.
The dark umbral shadow of the moon arrives at 2 a.m. The capital of the Falkland Islands is Stanley, which is southeast of the equator.
It will take 5 minutes, 48 seconds for the umbral shadow to reach the surface of the Earth. By this time at 3:05 a.m. The leading/northern edge of the umbra has already crossed over the boundary at 60 degrees south latitude and is racing at 2.1 miles per second. The shape of umbra's footprint resembles a raindrop, which is about 84 miles at its widest but nearly 1,200 miles long.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean and are located east of the northern limit of totality. There are no permanent native population in the South Sandwich Islands and a small non-permanent population on South Georgia. The capital of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is King Edward Point. The settlement is the smallest capital in the world by population, with 12 BAS personnel currently at the station. If any of them are outside after sunrise, they will see an eerie "counterfeit twilight" that will descend upon the island for a couple of minutes because of the moon's shadow.
The total solar eclipse is expected to take place on December 4, 2021. The image is from A.T. Sinclar/NASA GSFC.
The sun was setting at . The umbra will make its first landfall at the South Orkney Islands, a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about 604 km from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Britain and Argentina both have bases on the islands. Laurie Island is where the Argentine base, Orcadas is located.
The umbra will turn to the south and then to the west over the ice-filled waters of the Weddell Sea in less than two minutes. When the moon's shadow axis reaches a minimum distance from the Earth's center, the greatest eclipse will take place northeast of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. The time is 07:30 GMT. The sun's altitude is 17.2 degrees and the duration of totality is 1 minute, 54.4 seconds.
The umbra made its first contact with the southernmost part of the planet, theAntarctica, fifteen seconds later. 98% of the land is covered by an ice sheet. Its thickness is about 5,900 feet. There are ice shelves floating on the sea in the Ross and Weddell seas. The Ross Ice and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf are part of the continental margins and fringe about 45% of the planet.
"The Ice" is the nickname for Antarctica.
A solar eclipse view from South Mike Sedar Park in Wyoming on August 21, 2017. The image was taken by Justin Sullivan.
The moon's umbra will travel southwest, west and northwest, skirting across the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, then passing closest to the South Pole in 30.6 minutes. The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes and is located over Marie Byrd Land.
The southern edge of the umbra has already slipped off the Earth's surface at 3 a.m. The northern edge of the umbra will be followed by 45 seconds.
The southernmost part of Africa is grazed by the northern belly of Earth's outer shadow so that it can see a partial eclipse. The amount of the sun that is covered in Cape Town is 12%, but in most other places it's less than that. Most of Australia, New Zealand, and most of Tasmania can see a small "bite" taken out of the upper left portion of the sun just prior to sunset.
There is a timetable for the solar eclipse.
There is a location.
A partial eclipse begins.
The eclipse was the maximum.
The partial eclipse is over.
The sun is covered.
The Palmer Station is in the South Pole.
3:34 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
There was a 95 percent success rate.
The Emperor Point is in the South Pole.
3:44 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
100%
There is a city in Australia.
The time is 7:44 p.m.
The time is 8:12 p.m.
Below the horizon.
2%
South Africa's Cape Town.
7:44 a.m.
8:19 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
12%
Cabo Kempe is in Argentina.
Below the horizon.
4:30 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
25%
The new moon is close to the earth.
The moon will be making its closest approach to Earth in 2021. The moon comes closest to the Earth at 5:07 a.m. The occurrence of a new moon will be just over an hour later.
The sun and moon will be positioned on the same side of the Earth, with the moon at its closest point to the Earth. The ocean tides will be experiencing a far larger than normal range after this new moon and it can produce the highest tides of the year. The term "spring tide" refers to low and high tides that are lower and higher than usual.
Desperately looking for totality.
The most awe-inspiring events that nature can offer, according to those who have witnessed the beauty of a total solar eclipse firsthand, are the eclipses. People have traveled a long way to see the sun's corona, chromoosphere and prominences.
You might be under the impression that nobody else will see the total eclipse, except for a few scientists stationed at bases in Antarctica. 40 years ago, that might have been true. A total solar eclipse that touched off a storm in November 1985 was only witnessed by a few lucky penguins on the flanks of Mount Sabine.
There are more than just a few people who are willing to travel down to the South polar region to watch the eclipse. There are at least a half dozen cruise ships that will sail between the South Orkney Islands and the Weddel Sea in order to get a view of totality.
I will be on one of those ships.
I was asked to serve on the team of guides and scientists on the new expedition ship, Le Commandant-Charcot. The guests will disembark onto the ice pack to watch the solar eclipse. Stay informed!
Joe is an instructor and lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy in publications. Follow us on social media.
