Early on Saturday [
http://skyandtelesc…article_924_1.asp ], May 31 (UT) the new Moon will once again slide across the Sun's fiery disk, and once again [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] an annular solar eclipse [
http://sunearth.gsf…ASE2003.html ] will be the result -- since the Moon's apparent diameter [
http://www.rc-astro…] will be a little too small to completely cover the Sun [
http://www.earthvie…]. But this time celestial geometry [
http://members.aol.…] has conspired to produce a broad D-shaped region [
http://sunearth.gsf…ASE2003-1b.GIF ] for viewing the annular phase that extends into the far northern hemisphere, rather than creating a thin track racing across land and sea. The characteristic ring of fire will be visible from northern Scotland, Iceland, and parts of Greenland. Otherwise a partial eclipse will be more widely visible as across Europe, along with parts of Asia and North America, the Moon will appear to take a "bite" out of the Sun. While the northerly observers might certainly expect a dramatic view [
http://www.astrosur…], it will probably not look quite like this one [
http://www.skyscape…in the Sky/ RingFire.htm ], recorded with a foreground of palm trees during a 1992 annular eclipse. Want to watch Saturday's eclipse on the web? Check out the planned webcasts from Astronet [
http://www.xs4all.n…].
Explanation
Early on Saturday [
http://skyandtelesc…article_924_1.asp ], May 31 (UT) the new Moon will once again slide across the Sun's fiery disk, and once again [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] an annular solar eclipse [
http://sunearth.gsf…ASE2003.html ] will be the result -- since the Moon's apparent diameter [
http://www.rc-astro…] will be a little too small to completely cover the Sun [
http://www.earthvie…]. But this time celestial geometry [
http://members.aol.…] has conspired to produce a broad D-shaped region [
http://sunearth.gsf…ASE2003-1b.GIF ] for viewing the annular phase that extends into the far northern hemisphere, rather than creating a thin track racing across land and sea. The characteristic ring of fire will be visible from northern Scotland, Iceland, and parts of Greenland. Otherwise a partial eclipse will be more widely visible as across Europe, along with parts of Asia and North America, the Moon will appear to take a "bite" out of the Sun. While the northerly observers might certainly expect a dramatic view [
http://www.astrosur…], it will probably not look quite like this one [
http://www.skyscape…in the Sky/ RingFire.htm ], recorded with a foreground of palm trees during a 1992 annular eclipse. Want to watch Saturday's eclipse on the web? Check out the planned webcasts from Astronet [
http://www.xs4all.n…].
Explanation
