Ring of Fire

Have you got 5 minutes to spare this Friday the 10th?  

The place to be is Musgrave Roadhouse in Far North Queensland at 8:48 am, where you will see another eclipse of the sun by our moon – this time forming an annulus around the moon, or 'Ring of Fire'.

So how does this come about?

The new moon is nearly at ‘apogee’ i.e. furthest from Earth so its angular distance is smaller than the sun’s and it will only cover 95% of the sun’s image.

Where else would you be able to see this dramatic sight?

The eclipse will increase after dawn over the Pilbaras in W.A., then Tennant Creek N.T. and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Hopefully you Queenslanders appreciate your heavenly shows because you’re getting more than anybody else these days!

 

Oh and by the way, astronomers tells us that this sort of show is unique in our solar system and as far as we know, the universe.  How come?

Acknowledgement:                                                                                                                                                                          

 G. Dawes, P. Northfield, K. Wallace, Astronomy 2013 Australia, Quasar Publishing

Photo credit: indiatimes.com