This image of Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, was captured last week by NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft as it passed only about 1000 kilometers above the immense moon. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
The June 14, 2021 membership meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place via the Zoom online service beginning at 7:30 p.m. Gary Kader, CAA member and director of the Burrell Observatory at Baldwin Wallace University, will present a talk dealing with the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.
Attendees may join the Zoom meeting beginning at 7:20 p.m. the nights of CAA scheduled meetings, and meetings begin at 7:30.
The evening will begin with introductions and a program by the featured speaker. The talk will be followed by the monthly membership business meeting, typically concluding at about 9 p.m. Guest attendees are welcome.
To attend:
You can either “Phone in” or watch and participate via “Zoom Video”.
Phone In: Just dial: 1-312-626-6799 (Chicago number)
You will be required to enter our meeting number: 954 8268 6049
Members of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) rose early June 10 to view, photograph, and promote the (locally) partial solar eclipse. Already in progress as Sun rose above the horizon, the annular eclipse or “ring of fire” could not be seen but decent coverage of the solar disk did result in some impressive views.
In addition to watching the eclipse members, led by special events director Jay Reynolds, hosted members of the public at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park. The view from Edgewater’s lakefront location included the rising partly-eclipsed Sun with the lakeshore and Cleveland’s skyline.
Other members took up station at Avon Lake, Bay Village, and even inland at a Medina County location. Here, in mixed order, is a sampling of member photographs:
Jeff Lewis, in Bay Village, captured this view of the eclipsed sun as it rose above the Lake Erie horizon.Dave Nuti captured this view of the rising eclipsed Sun and the Cleveland, Ohio skyline as seen from Edgewater Park.Jay Reynolds made this photograph of early risers viewing the eclipse from Edgewater Park with the “photo op” Cleveland sign in the foreground.CAA member Nora Mishey, CAA’s Education Director, discusses the science of eclipses with members of the public at Edgewater Park in this photo by Anita Kazarian.A horn of the eclipsed Sun become visible as it rises from the Lake Erie horizon. Viewed from Bay Village.James Guilford captured this view from far inland — rural Medina County — where ground fog created interesting lighting effects.Joe Hamlin, in Avon Lake, produced this colorful capture of the eclipse over Lake Erie.Photographing the eclipse from Edgewater Park, the photographer was photographed by Anita Kazarian.Matt Franduto shot this photo of the cloud-obscured eclipse through his telescope.Jeff Lewis, from Bay Village, shared this view of the rising eclipse as it clears some low clouds.Calling this the “cherry bowl”, James Guilford produced this image of the sunrise eclipse as seen through ground fog in rural Medina County.Rising from a nest of clouds, the red eclipsed Sun was imaged by Timothy Campbell from Edgewater Park.Chris Elder was in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, for the eclipse. Patchy clouds blocked the view at dawn, but they broke up about 20 minutes in revealing some of the best eclipse views available in the country.
An annular eclipse of the sun will take place June 10 and it will be underway at sunrise. Unfortunately, even with clear skies we will not see the “ring of fire” that is the namesake look of this type of eclipse. In fact, no place in the United States will see the complete circle, or annulus, of Sun around Moon. So don’t feel left out.
In our area, sunrise will be at 5:55 AM (EDT) with the eclipse already at its maximum for us. The eclipse ends at 6:35 AM as Moon completes its passage across Sun.
A total eclipse of the sun takes place when Earth’s Moon, at normal orbital distances, covers the solar disk completely and blocks all but the glowing corona from view. An annular eclipse takes place when Moon is at higher points in its orbit when it passes between Earth and Sun, too distant and small to form a perfect cover, allowing a brilliant ring of our star to shine.
What we may see at dawn and diminishing thereafter, is a partial solar eclipse — looking a bit like the chomping character from the classic PAC-MAN video game. Much of the solar disk will be visible but the curved edge of Moon will take a bite out of one side.
How can you watch the eclipse? With great care!
Partial Eclipse of the Sun, August 21, 2017 — this image rotated to resemble what viewers might see at dawn, June 10, 2021. Photo by James Guilford
How can you watch the eclipse? With great care! At no time during our partial solar eclipse will it be safe to watch the event without vision protection. If you have eclipse glasses from a recent solar eclipse, those should be just fine — just make sure there are no pinholes or other damage to the plastic film “lenses”! You can check for damage by holding the eclipse viewer at arm’s length and looking at a bright lightbulb. If you see any dots of light through the viewer film, throw those glasses out!
Do NOT look at the sun through sunglasses, even multiple sets of sunglasses, or photo negatives, Compact Discs, or anything other than certified eclipse viewing equipment! Pinhole and other projection techniques can be used safely since the viewer is looking at a projection and not the sun itself. Five Ways to View the Solar Eclipse
“The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun’s surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection [Chou, 1981; Marsh, 1982]. Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!” — NASA: Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses
This map shows where the May 26, 2021 lunar eclipse is visible. Contours mark the edge of the region where the eclipse will be visible at the times when the Moon enters or leaves the umbra (the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is completely hidden) and penumbra (the part where the Sun is only partially blocked). Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
They say timing is everything and, with eclipses, that is certainly true. Unfortunately, timing will not be in our favor for viewing the Wednesday, May 26 total lunar eclipse. Earth’s Moon will be dipping very close to the horizon as morning twilight brightens hiding the most colorful portion of the event — totality — when Moon turns shades of copper and red. The subtle penumbral eclipse as Moon enters Earth’s outer shadow and will likely be even harder to see than usual. The partial phase of the eclipse begins as Moon enters the dark inner portion of the shadow cone and is easily spotted under other circumstances. Even the partial eclipse begins so late with Moon so close to the horizon that only a lucky few Ohioans will see any part of it.
Penumbral Eclipse begins
May 26 at 4:47 a.m.
Partial Eclipse begins
May 26 at 5:45 a.m.
Total Eclipse begins
May 26 at 7:11 a.m.
Maximum Eclipse
May 26 at 7:18 a.m.
Eclipse Timings — Eastern Daylight Time — Northeastern Ohio
The good news? Lunar eclipses can occur only at the time of a Full Moon and this event features a perigee Moon — our natural satellite at a particularly low portion of its orbit around Earth — appearing just a bit bigger and brighter than average. “Low”, in this case means 221,880 miles out. So, if skies allow, get out and enjoy the big, brilliant Full Moon tonight — it’s a natural wonder in its own right.
Visibility of the total phase in the contiguous U.S., at 11:11 UTC. Totality can be seen everywhere in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, along with Texas, Oklahoma, western Kansas, Hawaii and Alaska.Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Still want to watch the eclipse, even though we can’t see it from here? Just do an online search for live eclipse viewing opportunities or tune in to your favorite morning TV news show; they’ll be broadcasting from the West Coast or Hawaii where the eclipse can be properly seen!
Don’t despair, hang in there, dear moonwatcher! Come this November 19, in the wee hours of the morning, we will be in an excellent position to see a nearly total lunar eclipse from our own backyards! More on that at a later time!
