n
THE ONE-MINUTE ECLIPSE
--------------------
John Pazmino
NYSkies Astronomy Inc
www.nyskies.org
nyskies@nyskies.org
2021 June 10
Introduction
----------
The annular eclipse of 2021 June 10 was central near the North
pole and partial over the eastern part of North America, northern
Atlantic Ocean, northwestern Europe.
For the US East Coast the eclipse already started at local
sunrise. It was all over at sunrise for observers farther inland.
This is somewhat the inverse of the lunar eclipse of May 26. That
event was missed by the East Coast, having started after moonset.
Farther west observers saw most or all of the eclipse before moonset.
In New York the eclipse was at maximum phase, Moon deepest
ingression onto the Sun.From then as the Sun gained altitude, the Moon
slided off of the Sun, for a total observable duration of about one
hour.
Preparation
---------
Because of the potential of continued strict lockdown in the
NYSkies territory, there apparently were no public viewing of this
eclipse. The awkward hour, near 5 AM EDST, would have impeded casual
arrangements for such viewing.
I planned to watch from a window in my house that faced toward the
sunrise point, some 59 degree azimuth, rounded. I double-checked this
line of sight at sunrise on the 8th and 9th.
I intended to just watch my eye and binoculars, protected by solar
filters saved from previous solar eclipses. The wiggle room by the
viewing window was too tight to maneuver even a tabletop telescope
safely. The two models i have could sit still on the window sill but
there was a wobble that could topple the instrument right out onto the
ground.
I put new batteries in my camera for a grab-shot, even tho it
would be tough to properly expose the solar disc and landscape
together. I ended up not trying photography for a simple reason, noted
in duw course.
I put my pet cats into an other room with closed doors in late
night of the 9th to prevent any possibility of them exploring my
activity and falling out of the window. For extra caution I closed my
own room door.
Waiting
-----I listened to a talk-radio shows from about midnight to 3 AM
ESDT, partly because there was chatter about UFOs and the forthcoming
Pentagon report of its UFO work. The report was turned in to the US
Senate on June 1st and there were leaks of its content, but so far the
full text was not released publicly.
My alarm clock was set to 05H, allowing me to at least rest, if
not actually get into sleep.
At 05h the alarm roused me. I rustled out of bed by 05:15 and
inspected the sky.
It was mostly covered in a thin deck of cloud. Twilight was far
darker than normal for the brief time before sunrise.
Sunrise
-----
There was a hotspot over a certain point on the horizon where the
Sun would come up in a few minutes. sunrise was variously posted in
general ad astronomy news at 05:20 and 05:24. I explain this
dispersion in due course.
The sky gradually brightened and the hotspot swelled. . I did not
have an ideal horizon. The roofs of ones around the sunrise were about
1-1/2 degree high.
I stayed near the window to catch any glint of Sun on its frame or
adjacent furniture. By 05:40 there was no sunsplash yet. The hotspot
was obviously a glowball centered on the Sun above the roofs.
That's when I noticed a narrow horizontal band of lighter gray
just above the dulled Sun. Was this a thinner strip of cloud? a rue
clear gap?
Only one minute
------------
Wow! The Sun moved into this strip and burst out its rays over the
landscape! trees had sunsplashes! It was now 05:45.
Thru the filter the Sun was in deep eclipse. The Moon sat over the
left side of the Sun, toward the 10 o'clock position.
By bare eye the Sun was too bright to comfortably look at and it
was tinted a pale yellow.
I figured to watch with filtered eye for a while, then try the
binoculars.
While looking, the image in the filter suddenly faded away.
The sun moved out of the gap into the solid cloud deck above it.
On and off I checked the scene in hope there was an other glimpse
of the Sun. Thee wasn't.
By 06:40, after last contact, the Sun never came out again. The
early daylight wa that of a regular thin cloud.
My entire observing duration was only a single minute! That was
enough to satisfy me that, yes, I did see this partial eclipse live,
and in living color. No television or webcast view for me.
At about 7 AM, with no further sight of the Sun, T closed my
window, put away the observing gear, went to sleep.
Rest of the day
-------------
I woke up at about 10 AM to see that the Sun, now in high sky, was
shining weakly thru the clouds. I turned over for a second sleep and
woke up at about noon. This time I got up to release the cats and
begin my day.
The air warmed up from the stronger sunlight reaching the ground
and the wind calmed down to an occasional breeze. The warm air was
comfortable, not heavy like in previous days.
From noon thru late afternoon the sky oscillated between 'cloudy-
bright' and 'cloudy-dull', using the photography terms. In late
afternoon the cloud cover thinned out, opening deep blue clear sky
beyond it. The Sun shined brilliantly from then thru sunset. The wind
came and went during the afternoon, sometimes with a brief rustling of
trees.
When was sunrise?
---------------
Some readers, specially those east or west of the City, were at
first puzzled why there were ywo times cited for sunrise. for the City
the two were 05:20 and 05:24.
The main cause was the offset of New York from its zone meridian.
Astronomy calculations do not account for the displacement of the
observe from his zone meridian and generates hours based on his actual
longitude. For the City this is, rounded, 74 deg W, or 4H56m earlier
than UT.
Clocks in New York are set to the Eastern timezone, centered on 75
deg W, 5h00m earlier than UT. When astronomucly the sn rises at 05:24,
the local clocks read 05:20. (I included the daylight savings
adjustment.)
The dispersion, 4 min, is negligible for almost all observing
purposes. Even I commonly do not distinguish between local meridian
and zone meridian hours, labeling as EST, or EDST.
The frontiers of timezones are arbitrarily set in each country.
They can be modified on short notice. The Eastern zone, as example,
extends west of the 75th meridian to almost the 90th. Clocks in the
western side of the zone are still set to 75th meridian time, making
them a s much as 45 minutes later than local meridian time.
for an observer there the Sun rise, on their clock, at, yikes!,
06:05. In substance such observers are in a permanent daylight savings
time. They always get some 45 minutes more daylight on their clocks.
Messed up news
------------
In the day or two before the eclipse, local news promoted it to
the public. I found two major booboos in the accounts.
The first si that the eclipse here in the City would display the
'ring of fire' effect. The stories showed pictures of previous annular
eclipses with the Moon within the Suns disc.
This scene was realized along the central path, way up in
northland. The eclipse was partial everywhere else, with an oft-
centered Moon at maximum phase.
Perhaps the cloudy weather, hiding he eclipse for most people,
stifled complaints to the news agencies about this mistake?
The other error was the times for the eclipse. many sources said
the eclipse begins at 05:32, or so, and ends at 06:30, or so. That is,
the Sun rises, then the Moon creeps onto the sun, an an hour later
slides completely off.
The 'start' hour was in fact the tie of maximum eclipse. The Moon
first touched the Sun, at first contact, before sunrise. The sun rose
with the Moon almost at deepest ingression. Then after it moved off of
the Sun, fully leaving at the 06:30 fourth contact.
In fully total eclipses the news is generally correct. Maybe
because in this eclipse the Sun was always visible, the news agencies
figured the scene would be the same every where?
stand on station!
---------------
Weather can kabosh an eclipse. Even thoroly expert and profession
attempt to observe an eclipse are killed by adverse weather. That's
why eclipse rips do not 'guarantee' good weather, but state only the
prospects or chances. Some give you a disclaimer against claims from
lost views due to weather.
On the other hand weather can, how ever discouraging, can turn in
your favor. My own first total eclipse, in 1963, occurred during a
strong rain. Yes,rain. There were breaks between the rain clouds and
the eclipse shined thru one of them for me and my group. Soonest
totality was over we ran for cover.
In 1979 i went to an eclipse under strong threat of clouds, right
up thru the night before the eclipse. Eclipse day opened under totally
clear sky. My party good excellent views but an other, on its way to
the eclipse site on the previous day, didn't. It was increasingly
frightened at the adverse forecasts and turned back home. It probably
still today having fits over that incident.
My first eclipse which I traveled away from home to witness was in
1959. My group went to the viewing site to see a band of cloud over
the sunrise point. The senior astronomers told us to stay on station,
not to give up. And, yes, the Sun rose into a gap in the clouds,
offering us a clear view for several minutes.
I could cite other instances for me and others these here should
show what can happen. If the observer quits under bad forecasts.
The rule is simple: Stand on station! Be on site, ready to do your
tasks, regardless of the weather prospects. Yes, have shelter to hand
and protection for equipment, And stay there until the eclipse is
over.
i just know that on June 10th many readers, seeing the clouds in
predawn, turned over and went back to sleep. I, and others experienced
with eclipses, went to our stations, the window for me, and sat it
out. And I did get a good view, if only for a minute, of the rising
sun with a chink missing on the left side.
Conclusion
--------
I at the instant lost count of the number of solar eclipses, of
all l kinds, I witnesses. it's some where around twenty. I can day for
sure that each and every one was a unique experience for me.
This one on June 10 was a squeaker, with the good fortune of a
cloud break to let the Sun shine thru. It was a wonderful as any
other.
The US gets two other central eclipses in the next couple years,
in October 2023 and April 2024. Both are partial in New York.