Big Astronomy Events in 2011 and 2012

Much of the time, I enjoy astronomy as a day-to-day hobby, taking in the sky often and enjoying the slowly changing view of the heavens. Sometimes, however, big events come along and obligate the observer to be present at a specific moment in time -- and also have the good luck of clear skies. We have a three such events in the coming year, and the San Francisco Bay Area is a good base from which to see these events.

1. Total Lunar Eclipse, December 10th, 2011.

This Lunar Eclipse will peak on Saturday morning, December 10th, just before sunrise here in San Francisco, meaning that if the skies are clear, the best view will be at the coast, where the Full Moon will be entering Total Eclipse just as it is setting over the Pacific. This will be impressive!

2. Annular Eclipse of the Sun, May 20th, 2012.

An Annular Eclipse, also called a "Ring of Fire" eclipse, happens when the Moon's disk fits "inside" the disk of the Sun, creating a ring of sunlight in the sky. It's not the same as a Total Solar Eclipse, but still a beautiful natural phenomena, one worth a trip to Northern California to see. The viewing path can be seen on the map in this link, and will pass near Redding and Mt. Shasta in Northern California. I'll be organizing a road trip with the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers (SFAA) to see this spectacle.

3. Transit of Venus, June 6, 2012.

A transit of a planet in front of the Sun is a rare and unusual event. This is one of a pair of transits of Venus, the first of which occurred in 2004, paired with this one in 2012. Then we have a 100-year gap until the next pair of transits of Venus. It will be a daytime event, of course, because we are going to see the tiny disk of Venus cross directly over the Sun's disk.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I'll write about each of these events as the time draws nearer, so for now the main thing is to mark your calendar and do a bit of background reading by following the links in this blog post.

Image courtesy of NASA.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010

Eclipses are very exciting events, special moments that provide beautiful visual spectacles in the sky. Every year there are typically two to three eclipses of the Sun ("solar eclipses") and two to three eclipses of the Moon ("lunar eclipses"). And for each eclipse the event can be "total" (where the Sun or Moon is fully blocked out), or "partial" where a portion of the Sun or Moon is blocked out, but a portion is still visible.

Last month there was one such event, a type of solar eclipse called an Annular Eclipse. In this configuration, the Moon's disk appears to block out most the Sun but does not completely block it out. What makes the Annular Eclipse very special, however, is that the disk of the Moon is fully encircled by the Sun. The eclipse in January was not visible here in San Francisco but was seen in the eastern hemisphere. A fellow astronomy blogger and resident of Sri Lanka, Desh, put together an eclipse page that has video footage of the event and lots of great photographs. He organized a major eclipse viewing event for Sri Lanka.

Throughout 2010 there are more eclipses. The biggest event of the year is the Total Solar Eclipse that happens this July 11th, but again will not be visible here in San Francisco. To see this one you will need to travel to the South Pacific. The NASA Eclipse web site is full of details on this and every eclipse and for those of you who want to travel to see a Total Solar Eclipse someday, consult the NASA Total Solar Eclipse Paths map on their website. I think of it as a long-range travel planner!

For those of us in the Bay Area (and the entire Western Hemisphere), mark your calendars for December 21st when we get a beautiful Total Lunar Eclipse on the solstice to welcome in the winter.

Note: for a nice audio description of an eclipse, listen to my recent interview on KALW (just after the stargazing part of the interview).