Moon News
SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA develops process to create very accurate eclipse maps
illustration only
NASA develops process to create very accurate eclipse maps
by Ernie Wright and Susannah Darling for GSFC News
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2024

New NASA research reveals a process to generate extremely accurate eclipse maps, which plot the predicted path of the Moon's shadow as it crosses the face of Earth. Traditionally, eclipse calculations assume that all observers are at sea level on Earth and that the Moon is a smooth sphere that is perfectly symmetrical around its center of mass. As such, these calculations do not take into account different elevations on Earth or the Moon's cratered, uneven surface.

For slightly more accurate maps, people can employ elevation tables and plots of the lunar limb - the edge of the visible surface of the Moon as seen from Earth. However, now eclipse calculations have gained even greater accuracy by incorporating lunar topography data from NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) observations.

Using LRO elevation maps, NASA visualizer Ernie Wright at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, created a continuously varying lunar limb profile as the Moon's shadow passes over the Earth. The mountains and valleys along the edge of the Moon's disk affect the timing and duration of totality by several seconds. Wright also used several NASA data sets to provide an elevation map of Earth so that eclipse observer locations were depicted at their true altitude.

The resulting visualizations show something never seen before: the true, time-varying shape of the Moon's shadow, with the effects of both an accurate lunar limb and the Earth's terrain.

"Beginning with the 2017 total solar eclipse, we've been publishing maps and movies of eclipses that show the true shape of the Moon's central shadow - the umbra," said Wright.

"And people ask, why does it look like a potato instead of a smooth oval? The short answer is that the Moon isn't a perfectly smooth sphere."

The mountains and valleys around the edge of the Moon change the shape of the shadow. The valleys are also responsible for Baily's beads and the diamond ring, the last bits of the Sun visible just before and the first just after totality.

Wright is lead author of a paper published Sept. 19 in The Astronomical Journal that reveals for the first time exactly how the Moon's terrain creates the umbra shape. The valleys on the edge of the Moon act like pinholes projecting images of the Sun onto the Earth's surface.

The umbra is the small hole in the middle of these projected Sun images, the place where none of the Sun images reach.

The edges of the umbra are made up of small arcs from the edges of the projected Sun images.

This is just one of several surprising results that have emerged from the new eclipse mapping method described in the paper. Unlike the traditional method invented 200 years ago, the new way renders eclipse maps one pixel at a time, the same way 3D animation software creates images. It's also similar to the way other complex phenomena, like weather, are modeled in the computer by breaking the problem into millions of tiny pieces, something computers are really good at, and something that was inconceivable 200 years ago.

For more about eclipses, refer to:

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses

A Raster-oriented Method for Creating Eclipse Maps https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ad6b23

Related Links
Eclipses at NASA
Solar Science News at SpaceDaily

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SOLAR SCIENCE
Looking to the Stars: The Science Behind Different Solar Eclipses
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 13, 2024
For the keen-eyed astronomers among us, it's rapidly approaching eclipse season. With a total lunar eclipse set to occur in North America on April 8, 2024, there's never been a better time to learn about the different types of solar eclipses. Eclipses are a fascinating astronomical event - historically, many cultures assumed that they disrupted the natural order - in some instances, they were even considered bad omens. As our knowledge of the universe has grown, we now understand that eclipses are ... read more

SOLAR SCIENCE
Organic molecules on Mars linked to atmospheric formaldehyde

Study reveals surprising behavior of Mars' induced magnetosphere

Solar Wind effects on Mars' nightside magnetic field revealed

Reaching New Heights to Unravel Deep Martian History!

SOLAR SCIENCE
New analysis of Cassini data yields insights into Titan's seas

SOLAR SCIENCE
Volcanoes may help reveal interior heat on Jupiter moon

Technicians prep Europa Clipper for propellant loading

JunoCam identifies new volcanic feature on Io

Mystery of Trans-Neptunian Orbits Solved by Stellar Flyby

SOLAR SCIENCE
Rob Gutro: Clear Science in the Forecast

Crew prepares for departure while new arrivals ramp up Station activities

Vegetable seeds from space thrive in Shanxi county, boosting yields

Station crew showcases AI Assistant and 12K ultra-high-resolution camera

SOLAR SCIENCE
New Technique Enables Mass Production of Metal Nanowires

SOLAR SCIENCE
CSPAR gains 2 scale models of spacecraft crucial to its work

FAA proposes $630,000 fine against SpaceX for 2023 regulatory violations

French rockets to launch from Arnhem Space Centre starting in 2026

Elon Musk's Starlink internet launches in war-scarred Yemen

SOLAR SCIENCE
China launches Yaogan 43B remote-sensing satellites from Xichang

Shenzhou-18 Crew Tests Fire Alarms and Conducts Medical Procedures in Space

Astronauts on Tiangong Space Station Complete Fire Safety Drill

Shenzhou XVIII Crew Conducts Emergency Drill on Tiangong Space Station

SOLAR SCIENCE
Advanced instrument offers new insights into Van Allen Radiation Belts

Orion spacecraft radiation protection tested

The Best Practices to Minimize Exposure to Welding Fumes

Algorithm from Mars Rover assists data analysis for Earth Sciences

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.