12:22 PM
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Books – Omar Sabry:
Tomorrow, Monday, April 8, 2024, the Earth will witness a solar eclipse, which can be seen as a total eclipse in each of the countries; United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, and seeing it as a partial eclipse in countries; Western Europe, North America, northern South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and Antarctica.
According to the Institute of Astronomical Research, the eclipse covers an area 197.5 kilometers wide, and at the peak of the eclipse, the Moon covers 105.7% of the entire disk of the Sun.
The eclipse takes a period of time from its beginning to its end. 5 hours and 10 minutes, confirming that it cannot be seen in Egypt, nor in the Arab region.
It is noteworthy that a total eclipse is one of the types of solar eclipses and usually occurs when the Moon, during its monthly cycle around the Earth, is in the waning phase at the end of the lunar month, and immediately before the birth of the new crescent, where the Moon is located between the Earth and the Sun on the line of conjunction, which is the line connecting the centers of the Earth and the Sun or Close to it, and if it is located on one of the ascending or descending nodes or close to it, and in this case the distance between the moon and the Earth changes between 405 thousand kilometers and 363 thousand kilometers, and as a result of this distance the size of the moon changes to be large enough to cover the entire disk of the sun, and a total eclipse occurs.
It is noteworthy that the phenomenon of eclipse has useful aspects, as it is useful in confirming the beginning of the lunar Hijri months, as the eclipse occurs in the position of approaching or meeting, and the solar eclipse indicates the nearness of the birth of the new crescent, and it is considered the date of the birth of the new moon.
It is worth noting that the twenty-first century (between 2001 and 2100) will witness 224 solar eclipses, including 77 partial eclipses, 72 annular eclipses, 68 complete eclipses, and 7 mixed eclipses.