Where and when will the next solor eclispe take place?

Question

I want to know your ideology behind this great event. Or just tell me you don't care.

Answer 1

There will be 2 partial eclipses in 2007 and an annular eclipse in early 2008.

* Partial Solar Eclipse of 2007 March 19
* Partial Solar Eclipse of 2007 September 1
* Annular Solar Eclipse of 2008 February 7

The next three total solar eclipses are:

* Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01
* Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22
* Total Solar Eclipse of 2010 July 11

The NASA link (below) has details on where these can be seen; the first from far northern Europe, Greenland and far-northern Canada, the second over the Pacific and southeast Asia, and the third almost entirely over the far-southern waters of the Pacific, marginally visible from the tip of South America.

I think eclipses are cool, but I have no particular ideology related to eclipses or other planetary or stellar phenomena, except to the extent that such events serve as reminders of how small and fragile our world is in a universe filled with wonders.

Answer 2

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. This configuration can only occur during a New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. In ancient times, and in some cultures today, solar eclipses are attributed to mythical properties. Total solar eclipses can be frightening events for people unaware of their astronomical nature, as the Sun suddenly disappears in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes. However, the spiritual attribution of solar eclipses is now largely disregarded.

Total solar eclipses are very rare events for any given place on Earth because totality is only seen where the Moon's umbra touches the Earth's surface. A total solar eclipse is a spectacular natural phenomenon and many people consider travel to remote locations in order to observe one. The 1999 total eclipse in Europe, said by some to be the most-watched eclipse in human history, helped to increase public awareness of the phenomenon. This was illustrated by the number of people willing to make the trip to witness the 2005 annular eclipse and the 2006 total eclipse. The next solar eclipse takes place on March 19, 2007, while the next total solar eclipse will occur on August 1, 2008.

There are four types of solar eclipses:

A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible (see image above). During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.
A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather rare.
A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface.
The Earth's distance from the Sun is about 400 times the Moon's distance from the Earth. The Sun's diameter is about 400 times the diameter of the Moon. Because these ratios are approximately the same, the sizes of the Sun and the Moon as seen from Earth appear to be approximately the same: about 0.5 degree of arc in angular measure.

I love eclipses. I try to view as many of them as possible but as you well know many of us get shafted when it comes to the great event. I can remember seeing only one really outstanding solar eclipse and that was when I was much, much younger than I am now. Just be careful with your viewing.