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Live NASA telescope feed for today's solar eclipse [video]
- ck2 3y agoalso https://eclipse-explorer.smce.nasa.gov/ https://eclipse-explorer.smce.nasa.gov/
- hyperorca 3y agoHere is the NASA stream with commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MJY_ptQW1o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MJY_ptQW1o
- doakes 3y agoIs it just coincidence that from our point of view the moon looks like it's the exact same size as the sun? Or is there something else going on?
- atonse 3y agoYes it’s an absolutely crazy coincidence that the moon is the correct proportion to its distance that results in perfect total eclipses. I remember learning this fact in an astronomy class and that we’re not aware of this happening anywhere else in our solar system.
- eichin 3y agoIt's also "temporary" (moon's orbital radius increases ~4cm/year)
- doakes 3y agoInteresting! I wonder how long ago (if ever) eclipses weren't even possible
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- pie420 3y agoit's the opposite, a long time ago eclipses were "bigger" and happened more often, as the moon drifts farther away, it seems smaller to us and will no longer be big enough in our sky to block the sun one day.
- doakes 3y agoThanks for clarifying
- piptastic 3y agoEstimates suggest that total solar eclipses could cease to occur in about 600 million years from now, give or take, depending on the precise nature of lunar recession and changes in Earth's rotation. This timeframe is long enough that many other changes on Earth and in the solar system will also occur, making the cessation of total solar eclipses just one of many transformations.
- Lerc 3y agoThen we will have to endure a few million years of people arguing whether or not it should be called an eclipse or a transit
- mturmon 3y agoPart of that is that Earth's moon is quite large compared to other moons like Phobos. Here's a nice pic of Phobos and Deimos as seen from the mast-camera of Curiosity, compared with Luna. I remember reading an Asimov piece many years ago where he was (typically) spinning out a kind of what-if about how the large size of the moon, and the consequent majorly-obvious eclipses, influenced the importance of ancient astronomy. Not to mention other effects like tides and moonlight.
- atonse 3y agoNice, I’d love to read that.
- basementcat 3y agoIs this the link? https://www.universetoday.com/166028/perseverance-sees-phobos-deimos-and-mercury-passing-in-front-of-the-sun/ https://www.universetoday.com/166028/perseverance-sees-phobo...
- mturmon 3y agoIt's here: https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/5511/illustration-comparing-apparent-sizes-of-moons/#:~:text=Phobos%20has%20a%20diameter%2014,from%20an%20observer%20on%20Earth https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/5511/illustration-comparing-....
- phinnaeus 3y agoHe uses the "planet with a giant satellite" description of Earth as a plot point in Foundation (I think the final novel).
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- make_clean 3y agoI recall reading that is a remarkable and fortunate coincidence. Cannot find citation at the moment.
- netcraft 3y agocheck out this minutephysics video that explains and also talks about other eclipses in the solar system https://youtu.be/CikPFdZdY4k?si=NXpXHz06X3nZklt4 https://youtu.be/CikPFdZdY4k?si=NXpXHz06X3nZklt4
- theodorejb 3y agoFrom my perspective it's one of many evidences that our planet was intentionally created by God. I think He wanted us to experience these rare and spectacular events and use them to make astronomical discoveries.
- grecy 3y ago[flagged]
- simion314 3y ago>Once you've seen someone die painfully and slowly from cancer over years, you know there can be no god. i agree with you, but I think the conclusion from your argument is that the Good god does not exist, it is still possible that a Creator exist, but one that is not Good. kind or have human like qualities and morals.
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y agoVonnegut had The Church of God The Utterly Indifferent. Exists, but doesn't give a shit about anything that happens to creation.
- qup 3y agoObserver mode
- plastic3169 3y agoThat’s what I wonder about simulation theory. People say that it’s just nerds coming up with another god, but isn’t there the difference that if we live in a simulation it’s highly unlikely that the folks running it will come to hand pick the believers in to a heaven program after they die.
- BrandoElFollito 3y agoWell, it really depends on the features the TA required for the project.
- exitb 3y agoIt’s not the same size BTW. Depending on a particular configuration, the moon can be between 10% bigger and 10% smaller than sun.
- lambdaba 3y agoYes, this is the strangest coincidence of this entire setup to me, it doesn't seem related to enabling the development of life (besides, when life arose, the position of the moon was quite different), but it was instrumental in verifying the theory of relativity, just in time for humanity to discover it. And here's the backstory about verifying relativity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_May_29,_1919 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_May_29,_1919
- nicklecompte 3y agoThe whole idea of an annular solar eclipse is that the size is not actually exact :) I think part of the perception that a total eclipse "perfectly" blocks the sun is that the corona has a fuzzy edge but the surface does not, so when the moon is actually larger than the sun in the sky you still see the same eerie coronal glow. In particular there's little perceptible difference between blocking 100% of the sun and blocking 105% of the sun, compared to 100% versus 95%.
- creer 3y agoAnd besides all the other remarks, both earth's and the moon's orbits are something like ellipses. So that the ratio of apparent size of the moon to apparent size of the sun is not fixed either. See annular eclipse.
- al_borland 3y agoFrom what I’ve heard, the moon is also moving away from earth, ever so slightly. Something like 1cm/year. Eventually, the moon will appear too small to cover the sun and the eclipse as we know it today will be no more. But that won’t be in our lifetime. Who knows if humans will even still be around..
- xandrius 3y agoThat was absolutely amazing and it was "just" a video. I wish I could get to see it again (saw it only once as a kid).
- sva_ 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_12,_2026 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_12,_20...
- pavel_lishin 3y agoI'm planning on taking my family to Reykjavik - we went earlier this year, and it was great, and it'll be greater still with a total eclipse!
- sva_ 2y agoI'm planning to go there with my gf, but we're not sure how the hotel/airbnb situation will be like. Either that, or northern Spain.
- pavel_lishin 2y agoIt'll be worse the closer to the date it comes.
- sva_ 2y agoI'm worried about booking an AirBnb as I've heard of numerous cases of accommodations being canceled nearing the event as the hosts realize they can make much more money.
- rootusrootus 3y agoAnd a couple years later there is another one making a nice path all the way across Australia. Might be time to visit down under...
- davely 3y agoIf you want to what the Moon's shadow looks like as it crosses Earth, from space, I highly encourage you to check out NOAA's GOES Image Viewer! As of this moment, you can see a very dark circle crossing over the central United States. Even better, the website will animate the last 24 or so images (captured every 10 minutes). It's awesome! [1] [1] https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/fulldisk_band.php?sat=G16&band=GEOCOLOR&length=24&dim=1 https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/fulldisk_band.php?sat=...
- BurningFrog 3y agoThis shows the last 4 hours, which looks great right now. Is there a way to "permalink" to these four hours in the future?
- fragmede 3y agothere's a download link. could upload that to, eg imgur
- davely 3y agoI suspected something like this would happen and ended up recording my screen. [1] NOAA wipes out the images after a set amount of time (~1 month or so, looking at the images directory). [1] https://youtu.be/IVXjmHkY7xQ?si=f4-3CTKnRi2uo0pb https://youtu.be/IVXjmHkY7xQ?si=f4-3CTKnRi2uo0pb
- dylan604 3y agoSitting under the cloud cover just praying that some of the gaps in the clouds would buddy up and make bigger gaps, I found myself looking forward to this view of being able to distinctly see the shadow racing across the cloud tops preventing the terrestrial views. While the moment of totality was reached was obscured so that I barely made out the diamond ring effect, the majority of totality was behind very thin clouds. As luck would have it, within minutes after totality completed, it was blue sky with pretty much no clouds. I swear the gawds hate me or someone in my town!
- xyst 3y agoKind of cool to see it. But a bit overhyped. Just a small distraction that keeps us “united” for a moment in time.
- cjaybo 3y agoSmall?! Actually, despite how small it looks from here on Earth, the sun is very large!
- throwup238 3y agoVery large? I’ve covered that glorified fire ball with my thumb!
- qup 3y agoOnce covered up today, it revealed its true color: pink. Hardly the raging fireball they make it out to be.
- BrianHenryIE 3y agoDid you experience totality? I saw the 2017 eclipse and found it was way better than I expected.
- xyst 3y agoyea - I was in the path of totality. Just another “experience” I checked off the ole “bucket list”. People really got emotional about it though. People were screaming, crying. Almost a mass hysteria event.
- dotnet00 3y agoAnd that's despite our scientific understanding of the phenomenon, really explains why people who lacked that understanding viewed eclipses as a bad omen.
- sophacles 3y ago
- remoquete 3y agoTIL that eclipses have supersonic shadows that generate gravitational waves. https://www.livescience.com/61279-moon-s-supersonic-shadow-created-waves-during-the-solar-eclipse.html https://www.livescience.com/61279-moon-s-supersonic-shadow-c...
- EForEndeavour 3y agoWhere in that article are gravitational waves mentioned?
- pdonis 3y ago> gravitational waves You mean gravity waves [1], which are not the same thing as gravitational waves [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave
- saganus 3y agoThe article mentions "waves in the ionosphere", not gravitational waves.
- lenerdenator 3y agoY'know, seeing two of these now, I totally get why a peasant in þe olde times would freak out about this. It suddenly gets cold, your animals are freaking out, and the thing that makes your food grow is disappearing. Yeah, that's a problem.
- pavel_lishin 3y agoNot only does it disappear, but it suddenly grows a lot of weird glowing hair!
- chasd00 3y agoI live in Dallas TX and this is the first total eclipse i remember. When totality got closer my shadow on the ground become strange, i can't put my finger on it but something about my shadow seemed different. The last minute or so increased the darkness very fast, it got wayyy darker than i was expecting. The streetlights came on, all my neighbor's porch lights came on, and I could see a star/planet next to the sun.
- pests 3y agoDuring partial coverings the ambient light is reduced which makes shadows sharper and clearer.
- NortySpock 3y agoAlso the reduced light means your eyes have less light to discriminate color with, resulting in ordinarily bright colors being muted or gray-ish.
- dylan604 3y agoYeah, the severe color change was an interesting experience. I didn't bother trying to image it, as the fakey fakeness of the enhancing software would have "corrected" it.
- function_seven 3y ago
- toomuchtodo 3y agohttps://electrek.co/2024/04/08/solar-eclipse-impact-us-grid-in-real-time/ https://electrek.co/2024/04/08/solar-eclipse-impact-us-grid-... ("Watch the solar eclipse impact the US grid in real time")
- barfard 3y agoshadow puppets - nobody cares moon shadow - everyone loses their minds
- staplers 3y agoIf only shadow puppets could cast astronomical radioactive plasma profiles onto a 100 mile wide audience..
- mvkel 3y agoI was not prepared for how shocking it was to witness totality. I've seen partial eclipses in years past and they were neat. But this was staggering. Like the sun disappeared and was replaced with a black hole.