dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (11/22/84)
The total part of today's solar eclipse only lasts a few minutes. More on why people will travel thousands of miles to see it -- right after this. November 22 A Total Eclipse A total eclipse takes place when the moon is new -- and so it is today -- new moon -- when the moon is between the sun and Earth. Today's new moon is precisely in between -- and so the sun's light will be temporarily blocked in a total eclipse of the sun. This total eclipse is visible mainly from the Pacific Ocean. But there are observing possibilities from New Guinea -- and there's no doubt some eclipse-goers will have traveled far to be there -- ready to stand in line with the sun, Earth and moon. The total part of this eclipse doesn't quite last two minutes. But people will go to great lengths to see it, because a total solar eclipse is quite simply the most awe-inspiring natural spectacle available on this planet. The last solar eclipse visible from our part of the world was the annular eclipse of last spring. In that eclipse, the moon was in a far part of its orbit, and didn't appear quite big enough to block the entire disk of the sun. During last spring's annular eclipse, beads of sunlight shone between lunar mountains to create a broken ring of sunlight in the sky. That effect lasted only seconds -- but was incredibly thrilling -- so that a few MINUTES of total eclipse seems almost leisurely in comparison. During those few minutes, the sun's light is entirely blotted out by the ominous black disk of the moon. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin