The moon’s shadow on Earth, seen on August 11, 1999 from the Russian Mir space station. Those in the shadow’s path – the path of totality – see a total solar eclipse. Outside the shadow, you might see a partial solar eclipse. Image via Mir 27 Crew/ CNES. This shadow moves across the Earth at some 1,200 miles per hour (nearly 2,000 km per hour). Will the astronauts aboard ISS see it and capture an image on Monday, August 21?
Beginning this weekend, U.S. roads have been crowded with travelers to the path of totality of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse. But no one has traveled farther than the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Will they see a total eclipse from space? No. According to NASA, during this eclipse, ISS will pass through the moon’s penumbral shadow – its lighter, outer shadow – three times. It won’t ever pass through the darker, inner portion of the moon’s shadow – called the umbra. Thus ISS astronauts won’t see a total solar eclipse. Instead, they’ll see a partial eclipse from their vantage point in space. What’s more, during ISS’s second pass through the moon’s penumbral show, the astronauts might be able to look down, see and perhaps capture images of the moon’s shadow on Earth, from the perspective of space, assuming their view isn’t blocked by ISS itself. What’s more, from some places, during the total eclipse, the sky might get dark enough so that you could look overhead and see ISS passing over. And, from some places, people will see a transit of ISS across the face of the sun. Follow the links below to get more details.
Who will see an ISS pass during the eclipse?
ISS pass #1. Image via NASA.
ISS penumbral pass #1. During its first pass through the moon’s penumbra shadow, ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 38.0% of the sun covered up at maximum. ISS will not see the moon’s umbra on the Earth’s surface during this pass. ISS passes over the western United States and southeastern Canada during this pass. At the time of the figure (16:40:33 GMT), the total portion of the eclipse has not yet started for the Earth. A partial eclipse is already in progress and is witnessed by ISS.
ISS pass #2. ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 43.9% of the sun covered up at maximum. Also, ISS will witness the moon’s umbra moving through southern Illinois and southwestern Kentucky during a portion of this pass while ISS traverses over southern Canada. At the umbra’s closest approach, ISS will be just south of the Hudson Bay while the moon’s umbral shadow is located in southwestern Kentucky just over 1,000 miles (1,700 km) away. While ISS does not pass near the location of the moon’s umbral shadow, the umbra will be easily visible from ISS, on Earth’s surface, near the space station’s horizon.The figures below show the ISS at the mid-point of the eclipse during this pass from the perspective of the sun and from a perspective of ISS itself, looking ISS-starboard.Image via NASA.
ISS pass #3. During its third pass through the moon’s penumbra, ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 84% of the sun covered up at the maximum point a few minutes prior to orbital sunset. ISS will not see the moon’s umbra on the Earth surface during this pass, since the umbra will have just lifted off the Earth’s surface a few minutes prior to the start of ISS’s eclipse on this pass. However, this pass offers the opportunity to see the sun partially eclipsed as it sets into the atmosphere with 26.7% of the sun covered by the moon (assuming no structural blockage by ISS itself). The figure below represents ISS’s location at maximum eclipse, which occurs a few minutes prior to sunset, as viewed from the sun. Image via NASA.
NASA has provided descriptions and graphics of the moon’s three passes above the U.S. during the time of the August 21 solar eclipse. For each pass, a general description of each pass, a table of event times, and one or more figures are shown of the location of ISS at the mid-point of each pass.
An example figure of a pass is shown below. This particular example figure shows the view of the Earth from the Sun’s perspective at 18:23:56 GMT on 21-August.
ISS’s orbit around the Earth is represented by a solid red circle with ISS’s current position marked and labeled as “ISS”.
The portion of the Earth that ISS can see from its vantage point in orbit is marked by the red dotted circular region.
The path that the Moon’s central umbra shadow will follow during the eclipse is drawn by the solid black line that crosses from the Pacific Ocean, across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina, and out over the Atlantic Ocean.
The outline of the Moon’s umbra shadow (where there is no sunlight) is shown at its current position drawn on the Earth’s surface if it is visible as a small black outline. If the umbra shadow on the Earth is also visible from ISS, the distance to the center point is also given. For the example below, the umbra is over southwestern Kentucky and is visible from ISS at a distance of 1709 km. The outer penumbra shadow (where a partial solar eclipse is seen on Earth) is also shown as a light gray outline.
In the bottom right-hand corner, the relative position of the Moon with respect to the Sun is given along with the current obscuration of the Sun by the Moon as viewed from ISS. In this example, 43.9% of the Sun is being blocked (obscured) by the Moon.
The solar eclipse of March 20, 2015, as captured from aboard the International Space Station by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Check out her series of 21 photos of that eclipse.
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2wp23q6
The moon’s shadow on Earth, seen on August 11, 1999 from the Russian Mir space station. Those in the shadow’s path – the path of totality – see a total solar eclipse. Outside the shadow, you might see a partial solar eclipse. Image via Mir 27 Crew/ CNES. This shadow moves across the Earth at some 1,200 miles per hour (nearly 2,000 km per hour). Will the astronauts aboard ISS see it and capture an image on Monday, August 21?
Beginning this weekend, U.S. roads have been crowded with travelers to the path of totality of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse. But no one has traveled farther than the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Will they see a total eclipse from space? No. According to NASA, during this eclipse, ISS will pass through the moon’s penumbral shadow – its lighter, outer shadow – three times. It won’t ever pass through the darker, inner portion of the moon’s shadow – called the umbra. Thus ISS astronauts won’t see a total solar eclipse. Instead, they’ll see a partial eclipse from their vantage point in space. What’s more, during ISS’s second pass through the moon’s penumbral show, the astronauts might be able to look down, see and perhaps capture images of the moon’s shadow on Earth, from the perspective of space, assuming their view isn’t blocked by ISS itself. What’s more, from some places, during the total eclipse, the sky might get dark enough so that you could look overhead and see ISS passing over. And, from some places, people will see a transit of ISS across the face of the sun. Follow the links below to get more details.
Who will see an ISS pass during the eclipse?
ISS pass #1. Image via NASA.
ISS penumbral pass #1. During its first pass through the moon’s penumbra shadow, ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 38.0% of the sun covered up at maximum. ISS will not see the moon’s umbra on the Earth’s surface during this pass. ISS passes over the western United States and southeastern Canada during this pass. At the time of the figure (16:40:33 GMT), the total portion of the eclipse has not yet started for the Earth. A partial eclipse is already in progress and is witnessed by ISS.
ISS pass #2. ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 43.9% of the sun covered up at maximum. Also, ISS will witness the moon’s umbra moving through southern Illinois and southwestern Kentucky during a portion of this pass while ISS traverses over southern Canada. At the umbra’s closest approach, ISS will be just south of the Hudson Bay while the moon’s umbral shadow is located in southwestern Kentucky just over 1,000 miles (1,700 km) away. While ISS does not pass near the location of the moon’s umbral shadow, the umbra will be easily visible from ISS, on Earth’s surface, near the space station’s horizon.The figures below show the ISS at the mid-point of the eclipse during this pass from the perspective of the sun and from a perspective of ISS itself, looking ISS-starboard.Image via NASA.
ISS pass #3. During its third pass through the moon’s penumbra, ISS will experience a partial solar eclipse with 84% of the sun covered up at the maximum point a few minutes prior to orbital sunset. ISS will not see the moon’s umbra on the Earth surface during this pass, since the umbra will have just lifted off the Earth’s surface a few minutes prior to the start of ISS’s eclipse on this pass. However, this pass offers the opportunity to see the sun partially eclipsed as it sets into the atmosphere with 26.7% of the sun covered by the moon (assuming no structural blockage by ISS itself). The figure below represents ISS’s location at maximum eclipse, which occurs a few minutes prior to sunset, as viewed from the sun. Image via NASA.
NASA has provided descriptions and graphics of the moon’s three passes above the U.S. during the time of the August 21 solar eclipse. For each pass, a general description of each pass, a table of event times, and one or more figures are shown of the location of ISS at the mid-point of each pass.
An example figure of a pass is shown below. This particular example figure shows the view of the Earth from the Sun’s perspective at 18:23:56 GMT on 21-August.
ISS’s orbit around the Earth is represented by a solid red circle with ISS’s current position marked and labeled as “ISS”.
The portion of the Earth that ISS can see from its vantage point in orbit is marked by the red dotted circular region.
The path that the Moon’s central umbra shadow will follow during the eclipse is drawn by the solid black line that crosses from the Pacific Ocean, across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina, and out over the Atlantic Ocean.
The outline of the Moon’s umbra shadow (where there is no sunlight) is shown at its current position drawn on the Earth’s surface if it is visible as a small black outline. If the umbra shadow on the Earth is also visible from ISS, the distance to the center point is also given. For the example below, the umbra is over southwestern Kentucky and is visible from ISS at a distance of 1709 km. The outer penumbra shadow (where a partial solar eclipse is seen on Earth) is also shown as a light gray outline.
In the bottom right-hand corner, the relative position of the Moon with respect to the Sun is given along with the current obscuration of the Sun by the Moon as viewed from ISS. In this example, 43.9% of the Sun is being blocked (obscured) by the Moon.
The solar eclipse of March 20, 2015, as captured from aboard the International Space Station by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Check out her series of 21 photos of that eclipse.
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2wp23q6
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