Owl Light
Where Inspiration & Inquiry Converge
  • Home
  • Literary Journal
  • Owl Light Sponsorship
  • Digital Owl
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Home
  • Literary Journal
  • Owl Light Sponsorship
  • Digital Owl
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Home
  • /
  • Astronomy
  • /
  • Finger Lakes
  • /
  • Nature
  • /
  • Night Sky

Night Sky

  • DEE SHARPLES –

Annular Solar Eclipse

There are some pretty sights in the evening sky in the west shortly after sunset in June. The brilliant planet Venus shines at magnitude -3.9 and is easy to find low near the horizon. The “red planet” Mars is dimmer at magnitude 1.7 and shares the same area of sky. On June 11th, a slender crescent moon and bright Venus lie closer to the horizon. That same evening compare the color of Mars to two nearby stars Pollux and Castor in the constellation Gemini the twins when they are almost in a straight line. Castor shines white, while Pollux is yellow-orange, closer to the color of orange-hued Mars.

illus. Dee Sharples

You can spot the gas-giant planets Saturn and Jupiter in the southeastern sky during the early morning hours about 30 degrees up from the horizon. (The area of the sky covered by your fist measures about 10°.) They move toward the southern sky as the month progresses. Jupiter is brilliant at magnitude -2.4 and brightens to magnitude -2.6. Saturn is dimmer at magnitude 0.3 but still easy to spot to the right of Jupiter. To put these brightnesses in perspective, the Sun shines at magnitude-26.7; the full moon at magnitude -12.6; and the dimmest star visible with the unaided eye at 6.0 to 6.5.

June offers a chance to observe an Annular Solar Eclipse, but it will mean rising early to catch its brief show. The eclipse will be well underway as the sun rises in our area on Thursday, June 10th and be visible only from 5:31AM to 6:36AM. The Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science (ASRAS) will support safe, projected viewing of the event from Charlotte Pier in Ontario Beach Park, Hamlin Beach Park, and Martin Road Park in Henrietta. The Rochester Museum and Science Center will also support the public observing at Hamlin Beach Park and Martin Road Park.

Warning: Viewing the sun’s disk through any kind of optical aid like binoculars or a telescope, or even the viewfinder of a camera, is extremely dangerous and can cause irreversible eye damage. Projected viewing which is being offered at the three locations mentioned uses a method to project the image of the eclipse onto a white surface, which is totally safe. 

An annular solar eclipse is different than a total solar eclipse and occurs when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth but the moon is farther away than average from our planet. This causes the moon to appear smaller to us and not quite cover the entire surface of the sun, as it does in a total eclipse, but leaves exposed a ring of solar photosphere at the center line of the eclipse.

This eclipse will be fully on display in the extreme northern areas of Canada, Greenland, and the Arctic Ocean as well as northeastern Russia, but by the time the sun rises here, it will be nearing its end. The surface of the sun will be partly covered by the new moon and create a phenomenon called the “Devil’s Horns”.  

The above illustration created by Mark Minarich, President of ASRAS shows the “Devils’s Horns” phenomenon. Mark explained, “What is happening is that the sun will rise with the moon eclipsing the top left of it so the shining part of the sun will look like horns rising from the horizon. 78% of the sun will be eclipsed at sunrise.”

For a fantastic video captured over the water during the December 26, 2019, annular eclipse, check out weather.com/news/trending/video/devil-horns-rise-from-the-horizon-during-eclipse

The summer solstice occurs at 11:32 P.M. EDT on June 20th this year. This is the moment when the North Pole has its maximum tip toward the sun and signals the first official day of summer for the northern hemisphere.

Posted on June 9, 2021 by owllightnews.com. This entry was posted in Astronomy, Finger Lakes, Nature, Night Sky and tagged #Astronomy, #NightSky. Bookmark the permalink.
Bee Lines
A.R. HONEY

    Recent Posts

    • Visual Studies Workshop Announces Project Space Residency Open Application Period
    • West End Gallery showcasing Brian S. Keeler, Treacy Ziegler
    • Hard
    • Eye-Magine – Future Youth Art Exhibit
    • “These Wilds” Announcement

    Recent Comments

    • Darlene on Let’s Talk About Beep!
    • Darlene Bentley on Hello! from a new Guest Editor, and Finding Joy in Hardship.
    • owllightnews.com on The Farm
    • Douglas Morgan on The Farm
    • owllightnews.com on Energizing and Engaging Fun at GEVA

    Archives

    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • June 2024
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • August 2023
    • July 2023
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017

    Categories

    • #2021
    • Agriculture
    • Animals
    • Antiques
    • Art
    • Astronomy
    • automobiles
    • Beekeeping
    • Birthday
    • Boating
    • books
    • Botany
    • Broome County
    • Buffalo
    • Canadice
    • Canandaigua
    • Cartoon
    • Children
    • Civics
    • Collecting
    • Comic Strip
    • Community Information
    • concert
    • Covid-19
    • Creative non-fiction
    • Dansville
    • Death
    • Democracy
    • Dogs
    • Editorial
    • Education
    • Environmental
    • Essay
    • Family Fun
    • Fantasy
    • Fiction
    • film
    • Finger Lakes
    • Food and Beverage
    • gallery
    • Gardening
    • Gender Rights
    • Great Lakes
    • Health
    • History
    • Holiday
    • Honeoye
    • Human Interest
    • Human Rights
    • In Memoriam
    • Innovation
    • Interview
    • Leisurely Pursuits
    • Literary Arts
    • Little Lakes
    • Live Theatre
    • Livingston County
    • media
    • Monroe County
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Naples, NY
    • Nature
    • Night Sky
    • No. 1
    • NYS
    • Obituary
    • online
    • Ontario County
    • Opinion
    • Outdoor Sports
    • OWL Light
    • Owl Light News
    • Owl Light Newsstand locations
    • Owl Light Sponsor
    • Owl Sponsor
    • OwlLight Blogpost
    • OwlLightNewsArchive
    • Performing Arts
    • Photography
    • Poetry
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Recipe
    • Reviews
    • Richmond, NY
    • Rochester
    • Satire
    • Science
    • Scifi
    • Seniors
    • Shop Local
    • Social Justice
    • sports
    • STEM
    • Steuben County
    • Sustainability
    • Theatre
    • Tioga County
    • Tompkins County
    • Travel
    • Uncategorized
    • Veterans
    • Weather
    • Women's Rights
    • Wood working
    • writing
    • Wyoming County
    • Yates County
    • Young Adult
    • youth
    • Zoom

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
Powered by