Thanks for this interesting heads up. A useful and interesting introductory post! The eclipse, which is actually a hybrid one (some parts annular, some total), starts southeast of New Zealand. Full details at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2005.html and there is a link there to a table which shows local circumstances of the eclipse. Hopefully I am still on topic as this may be useful in carrying out the observations discussed! Robert Wainuiomata New Zealand 41.261S 174.948E ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerhard HOLTKAMP" <grd.holtkamp@t-online.de> To: <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 7:08 AM Subject: Geostationary Solar Eclipse 9-APR-2005 > Gerhard HOLTKAMP > Darmstadt, Germany > > (this is my SeeSat debut) > > On 8-APR-2005 a total/annular eclipse is visible in the Pacific region. > After > finishing there the Moon's shadow will sweep geostationary satellites over > the Atlantic an thus offer an indirect way to observe this eclipse from > Europe (and from Africa, South America and eastern parts of North > America). > Best placed are the satellites between 33.9° West and 34.2° West which > will > experience an eclipse lasting 34 minutes in the early morning hours of > 9-APR-2005 of which a few seconds (at 0:57 UT) are annular. During the > first > 11 minutes of the eclipse the apparent brightness of the satellites would > drop by mag 1 but during the final 5 minutes before annularity the > apparent > brightness drops by another 3.5 mag or so which should be easy to observe. > After that the brightness increases correspondingly. Satellites outside > this > narrow band experience a partial eclipse. INTELSAT 903 stationed at 35.25° > West seems to be the one best placed and should experience a total drop in > brightness by 3.5 mag at 1:01 UT. A few other satellites in the vicinity > should see a drop of between 2 to 3 mag. > > The event coincides with a time when flares caused by the solar panels of > geostationary satellites can be seen from mid-latitudes. Observers from > Europe should see a flare at 2:40 UT on 9-APR-2005 of INTELSAT 903 right > after shadow egress. So without moving your telescope you can observe an > eclipse of the Sun, passage through the shadow of the Earth and flares - > all > in less than two hours! > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: > http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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