Partial eclipse of the sun

[MotherBear]

For those who are interested in such things......

Partial eclipse of sun on February 7
NZPA | Wednesday, 23 January 2008

The sun will look like it has had a bite taken out of it on February 7.

Graham Murray from the Stardome Observatory in Auckland said a partial eclipse would be visible from all parts of New Zealand.

The partial eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun ? only part of the sun is seen, he said.

In Auckland the partial eclipse would start at 4.48pm when the sun was half way up the sky in the west and finish at 6.51pm.

Mr Murray said times would be similar for the rest of New Zealand.

At the time of maximum eclipse, which in Christchurch would be 5.37pm, the city would see only 53 per cent of the sun's surface.

In Antarctica and the Southern Ocean the moon would almost completely cover the sun, he said.

Mr Murray said astronomers called this an "annular eclipse" ? when the moon was at its smallest.

But he warns that people should be careful when looking at the eclipse.

He advises a safe method of watching an eclipse is to project the sun's image on to a screen, through a telescope or a pin-hole camera, to watch it in real-time like a movie.

Looking directly at the eclipse through a telescope, camera or binoculars can cause permanent damage, Mr Murray said.

From here .

[selchie]

Hmm, I wonder what that bodes for Lunar (Chinese) New Year?