Q. What's the "400 x 1/400 = 1" that sends umbraphiles off in pursuit of their heavenly love?
A. This lucky equation sums up the Moon being 400 times smaller than the Sun but at the same time 400 times closer to the Earth, so their discs appear exactly the same size in the sky, says "New Scientist" magazine. This makes total solar eclipses (TSEs) possible.
Possible, but with the path of the moon's shadow on Earth barely 100 kilometers (62 mi) wide, passing at times over sea or remote land or screened out by clouds during the crucial few seconds or minutes, TSEs are quite rare.
Mark this down on your calendar--as umbraphiles, or eclipse lovers, already know--that the next time you can expect the shadow to pass over your particular dwelling-spot is, on average, 360 years after the last time it passed by there. And if it happens to be cloudy, well, try again in 360 years. Which means the dedicated eclipse lover must be an eclipse chaser, going to where the action is.
Where? There's a TSE somewhere every year or so, such as Nov. 23, 2003 over Antarctica. University of Arizona astronomer and umbraphile Glenn Schneider, having chased down a few dozen, told "New Scientist" of the majestic sweep of the lunar shadow and, finally, "the thin white glow of the Sun's corona, the solar atmosphere that can only be seen during a TSE." So if this captures your fancy, check a chart and book a flight. Or hope the 360-year wait for your hometown is just about up.
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