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Since the late 19th century, adventurous female ‘eclipse chasers’ have contributed to science in Australia A total solar eclipse is a remarkable alignment of our Sun, Earth and the Moon, as the latter casts a perfect shadow across the former. If you’re in the narrow path of the shadow of the Moon, at the moment of totality you are plunged into darkness. Stars and planets emerge in the sky, and the entire atmosphere changes. This immersion in a total solar eclipse is unforgettable. As 21-year-old Australian Miriam Chisholm reported in 1922, I looked up from the telescope just an instant before totality and thought I saw the Corona, a pale fringe around the Sun […] and then the light went out and we saw it in all its glory. Historically, total solar eclipses were a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research about our Sun, the closest star. Using special instruments called spectroscopes, it was possible to decipher the chemical composition of the gases emitted by the Sun – but only during a total eclipse. . . .perhaps the best-known eclipse experiment was the proof of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In the early 20th century this theory could only be tested during the minutes of totality, requiring a clear sky around the covered Sun so you could photograph the stars. . . . The first Australian woman whose total solar eclipse observations were officially reported was Annie Louisa Virginia Dodwell. She had a Bachelor of Science from the University of Adelaide and gained astronomy knowledge working with her husband George Dodwell, the South Australian Government Astronomer. . . . In 1922 an international team of astronomers, led by William Campbell, Director of Lick Observatory, and assisted by the Australian Navy, travelled to a remote location in Western Australia to confirm Einstein’s general theory of relativity during the September 21 total solar eclipse. There were five women participating in this expedition: Elizabeth Campbell, Jean Chant with her daughter Elizabeth, Eleanor Adams and Mary Acworth Evershed. Four women in 1922 aboard a ship. Four of the women who participated in the total solar eclipse expedition led by Lick Observatory to Wallal Downs on their way from Broome to Ninety Mile Beach, Western Australia, 1922. Left to right: Elizabeth Chant (1899-1982), Jean Chant (1870-1940), Mary Acworth Evershed (1867-1949), Elizabeth Ballard Campbell (1869-1961). Collection State Library Western Australia, 4131B/1/24. Colourised. State Library Western Australia While they were the wives and daughter of respective male astronomers, each woman was a seasoned eclipse observer in her own right. They knew how to operate and use technical equipment and contributed substantially to reporting the scientific work. Elizabeth Campbell organised the supplies and operated spectroscopic and photographic telescope equipment during the eclipse. Eleanor Adams worked with her husband on the large 12-metre eclipse camera. Jean Chant observed the shadow bands and changing brightness of the sky, and Elizabeth Chant operated a prism that polarised light. Mary Acworth Evershed was an established expert in solar physics and worked alongside her husband, director of the Kodaikanal solar observatory in India. She photographed the spectra of the Sun’s corona. . . . On the other side of the continent, a very different eclipse expedition was organised by 21-year-old Miriam Chisholm with her school friend Frida Tindal. Chisholm’s father, Frank, drove them over 950 kilometres from Goulburn to southern Queensland. They lost four days when their car was bogged in mud and almost didn’t make it to the line of totality. Thankfully, due to excellent time-keeping and navigation they had a successful eclipse. They drew the Sun’s corona, measured the temperature, observed how animals and birds became quiet and timed the shadow bands. Their report is descriptive, inspiring and filled with detailed observations. It is still a useful guide on how to make the most of a total solar eclipse experience. . . . On April 20 2023 a total solar eclipse will be visible from Exmouth in Western Australia. This is the first total solar eclipse in Australia since 2012.

https://theconversation.com/since-the-late-19th-century-adventurous-female-eclipse-chasers-have-contributed-to-science-in-australia-200552

Heh, a slightly different take on the sun.

Another take.


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‘Like blood, then turned into darkness’: how medieval manuscripts link lunar eclipses, volcanoes and climate change Before humans started heating the planet by burning fossil fuels in the 19th century, Earth had experienced centuries-long widespread cool period known as the Little Ice Age. Scientists believe this cold spell may have been triggered, in part, by volcanic eruptions which made the atmosphere hazier, blocking some incoming sunlight. Records of these eruptions are sparse, and much of our knowledge of them comes from the traces left behind in polar ice and tree rings, which are fragmentary and sometimes contradictory. In a new study published in Nature, an international team of researchers led by Sébastien Guillet at the University of Geneva has found another way to learn about these historical eruptions: by studying descriptions of lunar eclipses in medieval manuscripts.

Wow, reading thousands of musty handwritten manuscripts, bit tediousI dare say. Very old fashioned writing, in Latin! But there were thousands of monks and lesser clergy (anyone who could write and wasn’t a nobleman was a member of the clergy.) So a repository of historical information was there to be mined.


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The researchers compiled hundreds of records of lunar eclipses from across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, documenting 187 eclipses between 1100 and 1300. In particular, they searched for descriptions that provided information on the brightness and colour of the Moon during the eclipse. Most of these turned out to be from European monks or clerics, writing in Latin. Based on these descriptions, the researchers ranked the colour and brightness of the Moon reported in each total eclipse. The brighter the eclipse, the clearer the atmosphere at the time: darker eclipses indicated a higher level of aerosol particles in the upper atmosphere – a marker of recent volcanic activity.

Interesting!


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The next step was to put the eclipse data together with simulations of how aerosol particles behave in the atmosphere, modern satellite observations, and climatic evidence from historical tree ring records. This allowed the researchers to estimate the timing of the culprit eruptions more precisely than from previous ice core records – and determine which eruptions reached the stratosphere and would be more likely to generate climatic cooling effects. . . . The largest volcanic eruptions pump vast amounts of material into Earth’s stratosphere, where it can remain for many months.

Look at: https://twitter.com/Johnted_113/status/1538151976751755271


Quote:

How volcanoes affect the climate Volcanic eruptions can eject huge amounts of ash, sulphur dioxide, and other gases high into the atmosphere. Eruptions can cause either cooling or warming (both temporary). The effect depends on exactly what the volcano spews out, how high the plume reaches, and the volcano’s location. Sulphur dioxide is particularly important. If it reaches the stratosphere, it reacts with water vapour to form a lingering veil of sulphate aerosols. These aerosols, along with the volcanic ash, block and scatter Solar radiation, often leading to cooling at the Earth’s surface. Large volcanic eruptions, such as the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines and the infamous 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia, slightly lowered global temperature in the years after the eruption. After Tambora, Europe and North America experienced a “year without a summer” in 1816. In this study, the combination of historical observations with ice records and climate reconstructions from tree rings has enabled more precise timing of those ancient eruptions. In turn, this has allowed us to better understand their potential impact on the climate during the European Middle Ages. Such information can help us to understand the role these eruptions may have played in the transition to the Little Ice Age. In the future, volcanoes may have to work a little harder to create a “dark” eclipse. As the atmosphere warms, the altitude of the stratosphere will increase. As a result, it may take a bigger eruption to put significant amounts of aerosols into the upper layer where they will hang around to darken the Moon for future generations!

https://theconversation.com/like-blood-then-turned-into-darkness-how-medieval-manuscripts-link-lunar-eclipses-volcanoes-and-climate-change-203185

Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05751-z

Also cited: https://theconversation.com/when-the-bullin-shrieked-aboriginal-memories-of-volcanic-eruptions-thousands-of-years-ago-81986

It is worth reading this article to get a good understanding of how volcanoes affect our climate.

It will be a partial eclipse where I live.

Same here.

Jovial Monk wrote on Apr 11^th, 2023 at 3:47pm:

Same here.

That does not seem to be the allegation according to the maps of the eclipse trajectory. Tasmania is going to miss out. Up here, we are going to get a 40% eclipse, at best.

Ah, OK.

Actually, the April 20th solar eclipse will be 'slightly' visible from Tasmania.

These are a couple of screenshots from the Stellarium astronomy program showing the eclipse as seen from Hobart at 1:50PM on April 20th. This is the maximum amount that the Moon covers the Sun (at least within a range of 10 minutes or so - I had to judge where to 'freeze' it).

There probably won't be any noticeable dimming of the daylight there due to the small area of Sun that the Moon covers.

The bottom image is the same as the top one but with the atmosphere removed for a better view (the eclipse won't look like that in Hobart, of course - it'll be like the top image).

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Yeah not sure Tassie ever gets a full eclipse of the sun.

Some info:

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/australia/tasmania

It's a shame that the plane of the Moon's orbit is 'tilted' about 5 degrees in relation to the Earth's.

Most of the time the Moon passes 'above' or 'below' the Sun as viewed from everywhere on Earth as the Moon's shadow misses the Earth completely.

If it wasn't tilted we'd have a solar eclipse (and a lunar eclipse) every month.

For comparison, the diameters of the Sun and Moon are about half a degree wide as viewed from Earth.

If Tasmania gets that much of a partial eclipse, the semi-eclipse up here will be quite profound. Next Thursday, I should be at my computer putting a notification to be outside around 1:40pm to see what is what at the time.

Last night, I watched the half-moon look very orange-yellow. And it looked to be appearing above the horizon very southeast of where it usually rises.

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 12^th, 2023 at 9:51am:

If Tasmania gets that much of a partial eclipse, the semi-eclipse up here will be quite profound. Next Thursday, I should be at my computer putting a notification to be outside around 1:40pm to see what is what at the time. Last night, I watched the half-moon look very orange-yellow. And it looked to be appearing above the horizon very southeast of where it usually rises.

From Stellarium again:

Rockhampton, Queensland.

2:35PM, 20th April.

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And what will it look like at 1:35pm?

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 12^th, 2023 at 10:25am:

And what will it look like at 1:35pm?

Eclipse is just starting in Rockhampton. It ends at about 3:50PM.

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Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on the 6th of May (early morning 3 am). I only took note of this event because I was wondering when my transformation into a werewolf was going to happen. The following night on the 6th of May, this Saturday, I will be driving to the coast to watch the full moon rise over the water of the Capricorn Coast. I might see if I can take a video to post.

Yeah, please take and post that video!