Total Solar Eclipse - 13th November 2012
The GLORIA project is an EU-funded project to create a global network of robotic telescopes as a tool for citizen science and astronomy. In addition, GLORIA is making live broadcasts of astronomical events to increase public awareness and interest in astronomy. UCD Physics astronomer, Lorraine Hanlon, is a member of the GLORIA team. Her robotic telescope, Watcher, in South Africa, is part of the GLORIA network. The preview and time lapse of this spectacular event, created by the GLORIA project are really worth viewing, they have been viewed over 130,000 times by Nov 22nd.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun, as seen from Earth. This can happen only at New Moon (Moon between the Sun and Earth) and if the Sun and the Moon are perfectly aligned as seen from Earth. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun appears obscured.
There are many spectacular visible effects that can be observed during a total solar eclipse. If the observer is located in a high place with a good view of the distant landscape, the Moon’s shadow can be seen approaching from the western horizon, at supersonic speed. As the shadow progresses, the appearance of the Sun is reduced to a thinning crescent, until finally a single speactacular ‘diamond ring’ heralds the onset of totality. ‘Baily’s beads’ may be seen as bright points of light surrounding the dark lunar disk, caused by sunlight grazing the undulating terrain of the lunar surface. Then, suddenly, the solar corona appears, dazzled until then by the brilliance of the Sun’s photosphere, which is a million times more luminous. Safe naked-eye viewing of the total eclipse can begin at this moment.
GLORIA is pioneering new peer to peer broadcasting technology to enable large numbers of people to simultaneously view its live astronomical broadcasts. UCD Research IT services have contributed to this effort by providing virtual servers during the broadcasts. For example, during the Transit of Venus broadcast in June 2012, almost 93,000 simultaneous live streams of the event were served.