Solar Eclipse, Supermoon, and Spring Equinox
This Friday, March 20, we’ll be witnessing three spectacular events: a Solar eclipse, a Supermoon and the March equinox. Each of these celestial events is a rarity, but all three of them happening on the same day give a particular added value to this powerfull Friday, the first day of 2015’s spring. A total solar eclipse coinciding with a spring or fall Equinox hasn’t happened since 1662 and will not happen again until March 20, 2034. Simply put, an equinox occurs twice a year – spring and autumn – when the Sun crosses the plane of the Earth’s equator. Derived from a Latin term meaning “equal night”, an equinox is not actually an entire day, but happens at two specific moments each year when the centre of the Sun is observed directly above a certain location on the Earth’s equator. Equinoxes occur around March 20/21 and September 22/23 at specific moments in time. While the science is fascinating – and complex – the equinoxes have becoming deeply ingrained symbols of rebirth and harvest that still perpetuate in many cultures. In folklore they are mystical moments whose magical power still touches the Earth today. Closely associated with druids, Wicca and fertility rites in the British Isles and Atlantic fringe especially, the vernal equinox is a magical time which may lack much of its ancient significance, but nevertheless signals winter is over and summer is on the way. March Equinox in Universal Coordinated Time is on Friday, 20 March 2015, 22:45 UTC. You can find out the time of the March Equinox here: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html… A Solar eclipse is the phenomena when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth align, with the Moon in front of the Sun, blocking its light. Solar eclipses happen only during the phase of the Moon known as “new” or “black”. During this time, the Moon is not visible because it rises with the Sun and sets with it, but sometimes, on very rare occasions, when the three celestial bodies align, the Moon’s shadow blocks out the Sun’s light as seen from Earth. This Friday’s eclipse will be a Total Solar Eclipse in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard (Norway). Totality may be short – it will last for 2 minutes 40 seconds – but it will be full of spectacular sights. These include Baily’s beads, the diamond ring, the Sun’s chromosphere and corona and shadow bands. For the rest of the world, in Europe, northern and eastern Asia and northern and western Africa, the Solar Eclipse will be partial. The eclipse starts at 07:41 UTC and ends at 11:50 UTC. The third event, the Supermoon is the coincidence of a Full Moon or a New Moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. The technical name is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system. Since this Supermoon is during a New Moon, it will not be visible, but it will block out the Sun during the solar eclipse. Watching all these aspects mentioned above, we could probably say that from a cosmic perspective, this day may be the most powerful day of the year, so enjoy it and make the best out of it! Happy Spring times!
