2019-07-01_Australian_Sky_&_Telescope

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 55

by Jonathan Nally ECLIPSE

fare better, but not equally. Brisbane, for

example, will see only about 40 minutes

of the partial phase and miss out on

maximum; for Sydney it will be about an

hour of the partial phase before moonset.

Melbourne and Hobart fare better, with

the eclipse lasting long enough to reach

maximum only a handful of minutes

before moonset. Adelaide and Darwin are

much the same.

Perth and most of the rest of

Western Australia really have the box

seat for this eclipse, seeing the entire

event. But you’ll have to be up and

aboutfairlyearly,withthepartialphase

beginningat 4:01amandreaching

maximumat 5:31am.

December 26 solareclipse

Thelasteclipsefor 2019 willbean

annularsolareclipse.Unlikea totalsolar

eclipse,duringanannulareventthe

Moondoesn’tentirelycoveruptheSun

— ratherit leavesa thinringofsunlight

duringtheperiodofmaximum.

ForAustralasia,though,it’sa bit

academic,asthepathofannularity

fortheDecember 26 eventwillsweep

acrosstheglobenorthoftheequator.

Whatwe’llgettoseewillbea partial

solareclipse,andthatwillonlybefor

observersinthenorthernhalfofthe

country;moresoutherlycitiessuchas

Sydney,Melbourne,Canberra,Adelaide

andHobartwillmissout.We’llhave

moredetailsaboutthiseclipsecoming

upinourNov/Decissue.

T

hisyear’sonlylunareclipsefor

Australiawillbea partialeclipse,

anda fairlypooroneat that.

OccurringonthemorningofJuly17,

theMoonwillslideintotheEarth’s

shadowasdawntwilightis beginning

(foreasternstates),before(formost

locations)settingbeforetheeventis

finished.

Atmaximum,about65%ofthe

MoonwillbedarkenedbytheEarth’s

shadow.Ordinarilythiswouldmakefor

a goodspectacle,butthedawntwilight

willreallyinterfere.Somemembersof

thepublicmightnotevennoticethe

eclipsetakingplace,particularlywith

theMoonrapidlyheadingtowardthe

westernhorizon.

Theeventwillbevisiblefrom

Australia,someofNewZealand,most

ofAsia,SouthAmerica,Europeand

Africa.Forthelattertworegions,the

eventwilloccurontheeveningofJuly

16 localtime,withtheMoonleavingthe

penumbralshadowafterlocalmidnight.

Andit comesjusttwoweeksafter

a totalsolareclipseonJuly2 UT,not

visiblefromAustraliabutobservable

There’ll be a partial

eclipse of the Moon

on the morning of

July 17.

fromthePacificOcean,northernChile

andcentralArgentina.Partsofthe

restofSouthandCentralAmericawill

witnessa partialsolareclipse.

Lookingat thetimesinthetable

below,you’llnotethathowmuchof

thelunareclipseyou’llgettoseewill

dependonyourlocation.If you’rein

Christchurch,forinstance,thepartial

phasewillbeginonlya minutebefore

moonset!TheeasternstatesofAustralia

S. RAHN

Partial eclipse of the Moon, July 17, 2019

City Partial begins Maximum eclipse Partial ends

Adelaide 5:31 am 7:01 am 7:27 am^

Brisbane 6:01 am 6:40 am^

Christchurch 8:01 am 8:02 am^

Darwin 5:31 am 7:01 am 7:13 am^

Hobart 6:01 am 7:31 am 7:44 am^

Melbourne 6:01 am 7:31 am 7:39 am^

Perth 4:01 am 5:31 am 7:00 am

Sydney 6:01 am 7:03 am^

All times are local for the relevant time zone. ^The Moon sets at this time with the eclipse still underway.

Lunar darkness

in the dawn

Our only lunar eclipse for 2019 is a morning twilight event.