{"id":1016078,"date":"2017-09-07T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T22:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lufft.com\/?p=16078\/"},"modified":"2017-09-07T17:47:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T15:47:09","slug":"6-amazing-facts-about-solar-eclipses-you-probably-didnt-know-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/6-amazing-facts-about-solar-eclipses-you-probably-didnt-know-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Amazing Facts about Solar Eclipses You Probably Didn\u2019t Know yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, August 21, the heavens were darkened in 14 US states. In the following, we explain to you why this happened and by which fascinating events it is accompanied.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On Monday, August 21, the heavens were darkened in 14 US states. In the following, we explain to you why this happened and by which fascinating events it is accompanied.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a Solar Eclipse?<\/h2>\n

During a solar eclipse, the Moon is placed exactly between the sun and the Earth casting a large shadow on some regions. On Monday, 21st<\/sup> of August 2017, this was the case in the US when the moon fully occulted the sun. The rare event lasted one and a half hours in total and passed 14 US states – from West Coast to East Coast.<\/p>\n

During the eclipse the corona shined like a ring around the moon fully covering the sun (totality). During totality, a up to a 200-km-wide core shadow was created. Something like this happens only during a total eclipse like the one on August 21. The next one with the same route will take place in 99 years.<\/p>\n

Exploratorium and NASA streamed the event live<\/h2>\n

To explore the whole eclipse as well as sun spots and the corona different telescopes from the NASA<\/a> were in operation in Madras, Oregon and Casper, Wyoming. With a hydrogen light telescope, for example, the Exploratorium crew was able to observe the outer atmosphere of the sun. Moreover, a Lufft WS700<\/a> multi-parameter weather sensor was deployed in Madras to detect the weather parameters temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.<\/p>\n

Fact 1: The weather during a solar eclipse changes noticeably<\/h2>\n

Lufft\u2018s weather sensor WS700<\/a> recorded, that it got cloudier and windier shortly before the eclipse started. The temperature dropped 4 \u00b0C (39 \u00b0F) due to light loss. The global radiation changed significantly with the beginning of the eclipse as reflected by the measurements of the WS700. The darkness was comparable with the time shortly before sunset. The whole process was like a change from daylight to twilight. As the moon moves in front of the sun,<\/span> the sun shadow takes the same form as the current one of the solar eclipse. This gets clearly visible when holding a perforated plate in between the sun and the ground. The special <\/span>shadow looked even sharper on the ground so it was possible to see very fine shapes.<\/p>\n\n

Fact 2: Solar eclipses don’t occur every month even the moon seems to take the same path<\/h2>\n

The orbit of the moon is tilted relative to the orbit of the Earth around the sun, like a Gyroscope, so the moon often passes below or above the Earth. At those times, it does not cross the line between the sun and the Earth, and therefore does not create a solar eclipse. Only twice a year a solar eclipse is possible. Find the full explanation in the following video from the Exploratorium:<\/p>\n