[ngcles]

Hi Glen & All,

Thanks Glen for posting the tracks for the eclipses between 2020 and 2040. They are really interesting because in these two decades there will be 5 excellent eclipses visible in various parts of Australia. 3 will pass over NZ plus an Annular one! There is a spot in the far southeast of the North Island which will see two total, plus an Annular eclipse in about 3 1/2 years -- pretty good going.

The track for the eclipse on Nov 25 2030 that ends near Miles in Qld bears a striking similarity to the eclipse track for 4 Dec 2003 which I viewed at Ceduna. The two aren't in the usual sense related because they each belong to different saros -- but they very nearly follow the same track. The 2003 event crossed the coast at Ceduna went on through Woomera in SA and the Sun set in eclipse at about Cameron Corner. Take a look!

The 2028 one passes smak-dab through the geographical centre of Sydney and is visible in my (current) backyard in Southern Sydney, though a little shorter than elsewhere.

I remain hopeful that I can see all of them, though for the last one in 2038 I will be 76 and approaching my dotage I guess.

The one for me that looks particularly interesting to me is the Annular/Total eclipse that it seems barely kisses the West Australian mainland near Exmouth. Nowadays these sorts of eclipses are called a Hybrid Eclipse though they used to be called an Annular/Total eclipses. In that case, because the angular size of the Moon in the sky is very, very similar to the angular size of the Sun, the eclipse track starts as an annular one and as it progresses along the track becomes total (very short) and then at the end is annular again. It is a pretty rare sort of eclipse -- only a handful per century.

I think the only even rarer ones are tracks that appear to go backward on the face of the Earth, but they only occur close to the poles and close in time to the solstices so that the "Midnight Sun" is eclipsed. In this instance the umbral shadow goes over the top of the pole to land on the far side of the Earth where it is (in effect) rotatating backward. In these cases the track goes east-west, not west-east as usual.

It is also possible to have a "spot track" but these only occur near the poles in peculiar circumstances. In any event, these last two really are only peculiar types of tracks due to strange geometry and not a different sort of eclipse per-se -- they are still either total or annular.

I will make sure (so far as I can) that I see that Annular/Total one (I'll only be 61) because that for me will be the last type of eclipse I can see -- I will then have seen the whole set!:

Lunar:
Partial Penumbral, Partial Umbral and Total Lunar

Solar:
Transit of Mercury, Transit of Venus, Partial, Annular, Total and then finally
Annular Total.

A full card -- I hope so anyway.

We have just made our bookings for the eclipse in China next year -- SASI is running an eclipse tour again and it looks a beauty -- the longest eclipse of the 21st century at 6 mins 39 sec! As a bonus on the way we get to do shopping in Shanghai, The Entombed Warriors and Great Wall, Beijing and a stack of other stuff.

... and I get to see Polaris for the first time ever!!! Whooohooooo !!!

Best,

Les D