Total Solar Elipse for Europe - March 20

[Rogue]

The Total Solar Eclipse May Do More Than Just Darken Europe's Skies
The Huffington Post |  By Jacqueline Howard

A total solar eclipse--the biggest in Europe since 1999--will darken skies over the parts of the continent at 9:45 a.m. UT (5:45 a.m. Eastern Time) on Friday, March 20.


This animated GIF, released by NASA, shows where the shadow will be created by the March 20 total solar eclipse.

The eclipse is expected to block a whopping 98 percent of the sun's light in northern Scotland, The Telegraph reported. As for London, it's expected to see an 85-percent reduction in sunlight.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on Earth as it blots out sunlight. Since this eclipse will block so much sunlight, Britain's solar power industry is worried that it could cause power interruptions.

Transmission system operators have spent months preparing for the eclipse, according to the Brussels, Belgium-based European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. Plans call for control rooms across the continent to coordinate a response in case of any problems.

"Within 30 minutes the solar power production would decrease from 17.5 gigawatts to 6.2GW and then increase again up to 24.6GW. This means that within 30 minutes the system will have to adapt to a load change of -10GW to +15GW," Patrick Graichen, executive director of the Berlin-based renewable energy think-thank Agora Energiewende, told the Financial Times.

Essentially, the eclipse is being seen as a sort of “stress test” of the power system. But John Meyer, an analyst at London-based mining and energy broker SP Angel, told CNBC that there is no need to worry.

"You could equally worry about volcanic ash clouds and dust storms," he said in an email. "Solar farms are almost always combined with power from other sources to improve reliability. As a result, we don't see the event of an eclipse lasting long enough [to] make much of a difference."

Industry concerns aside, many Europeans are looking forward to getting a glimpse of the eclipse. If you're planning a look-see, a note of caution: eye protection is essential when viewing a solar eclipse.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/solar-eclipse-2015-europe_n_6792732.html

[Stirky]

Yes looking forward to this, although won't make too much difference if it is cloudy and dull anyway! When we had a total solar eclipse the weather was awful lol!

[Rogue]

Solar eclipse, Supermoon, Spring equinox: Friday will see three rare celestial events

Eclipses have long been feared as bad omens, but the equinox is celebrated as a time of renewal
ANDREW GRIFFIN Monday 16 March 2015

As the eclipse plunges the UK and other places into darkness this Friday, two other rare if less spectacular celestial events will be taking place, too: a Supermoon and the Spring equinox.

A Supermoon, or perigee moon, happens when the full or new moon does its closest fly-by of the Earth, making it look bigger than it normally does. And the spring equinox refers to the time of the year when the day and night are of equal duration, mid-way between the longest and shortest days.

The solar eclipse refers to a phenomenon where the sun and moon line up, so that the latter obscures the former. And while it won’t be affected by the two other events, it is rare that the three events happen even individually.

Supermoon

Most of the time, there are between three and six Supermoons a year. There is set to be six in 2015, two of which have already happened. The next will take place on March 20, the day of the eclipse, and the others will come in August, September and October.

Eclipses can only happen at new moon, when the moon appears is entirely in shadow. And the spectacular Supermoon images that are often spotted can only happen when the moon is full, since it can only be seen then.

As a result, only the last three Supermoons of this year will be visible — because the moon is new rather than full on March 20, it won’t be seen. But it will be gliding past us closer than ever, and its shadow will be visible as it blocks out the sun on Friday morning.

Spring equinox

The equinox will also happen on March 20. While it won’t have any discernable, direct impact on how the solar eclipse looks, it will contribute to a rare collision of three unusual celestial events.

On March 20, the Earth’s axis will be perpindecular to the sun’s rays — which only happens twice a year, at the two equinoxes. After that, it will start tipping over, making the days longer in the northern hemisphere.

As such, the equinox has long been celebrated as a time of beginning and renewal, by a number of historic cultures, and is linked to Easter and Passover.

The equinox will happen at the same time as a solar eclipse in 2053 and 2072, though it doesn’t always appear as close together as that.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/solar-eclipse-supermoon-spring-equinox-friday-will-see-three-rare-celestial-events-10111592.html

[Stirky]

We also have the Queen coming to our city tomorrow!

Ostara tomorrow yay!!!

[Lenzabi]

Looks like I will miss it as it will be night over my part of the world when it happens

[Agartha]

Great articles, Roguey! Amazing all that's happening tomorrow!
(and even more if you live where Stirky lives, lol)

We should see 85% here, fingers crossed the weather is like today and the sky is clear. I have been telling the kids so many times not to look at the sun directly, hopefully they won't!

[Agartha]

EDIT: weather forecast for me tomorrow morning: VERY CLOUDY!!!!!! ... that is so unfair.....

[Stirky]

It is meant to be clear here. I too have also been going on to the kids about looking at it Ags! I see some schools are keeping pupils inside during it to prevent this, at our school they are allowed out but will have their backs to the sun. My daughter is going on a school trip, so will be on a coach when it reaches maximum (think 86% here).

[Agartha]

Well, I hope you guys can see it... and I pray for clear skies cause I really would love to go out and try to see it.

If they have their backs to the sun and they hold a colander in front of a card, they can reflect the eclipse onto the white paper/card.

[Rockhopper]

An alternative is to borrow an arc welders lens to watch it through.

Remember those paeleocomputer daze when we had the 3.5" discs? Take the disc out and fold it in half and look through that!

Tim.

[Agartha]

Yes, you could use that too, you are right Tim.

I just came back to the house just to tell you all that it is incredibly cloudy and grey and we won't see a thing ..... I hope Stirky can.

[Stirky]

I went up on the moors to see it, had dogs to walk anyway. Apart from the light going a bit dim (just like early morning) and it getting a bit colder, the sun looked no different to me! Think I should have got one of those glass viewers. But the whole thing was a bit of a disappointment lol! Ah well me and the dogs had a lovely walk. It was still a bit hazy from the smog that rolled in yesterday, but wasn't cloudy. Back in 1999 for the full eclipse it was cloudy and we didn't see a thing.

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