Total Solar Eclipse March 29 2006: Getting The Perfect Picture

A total solar eclipse is occuring on March 29 2006. Solar eclipse has been coming and going since the beginning of time and have never fails to fascinate man.

So it seems that it is no surprise that the Exploratorium has gone to great lengths to ensure that they got the perfect location for that perfect picture for the solar eclipse that is predicted to occur on March 29 2006



Here in their own words:

Choosing the best place to view an eclipse requires research. We started with a map that shows the eclipse’s path of totality (a narrow path where the moon’s dark umbral shadow falls on the earth’s surface). Then, we analyzed sites along the path and asked ourselves questions: How long does totality last? What are the weather conditions, particularly the chances for clear skies? Is the site accessible by regular transportation? Is there good infrastructure (hotels, Internet access, consistent electricity)? Can the surrounding community support our efforts? Can telescopes and other equipment (in our case, two tons of it) be safely transported to the site?
We considered sending our team to Libya or Egypt. Totality in Libya will last for just over 4 minutes, which is a long time in eclipse terms. But the weather in Libya can be unsettled in March and, due to sandstorms, there’s also a chance that there will be dust in the air. This leaves an overall probability of seeing the eclipse in Libya at 44–53 percent. We also thought about going to Sallum, Egypt, which has an overall 60 percent chance of seeing the eclipse and totality at just under 4 minutes. However, both of these locations have very little infrastructure, plus travel arrangements are difficult.
In Side, Turkey there’s a 60 percent chance of sunshine and a 48 percent overall probability of seeing the eclipse. Totality will last for 3 minutes and 41 seconds. Side offers an excellent infrastructure and a mayor who’s very supportive of our work, plus it’s located near an airport. It’s the best place to send our team.
We won’t be alone in Turkey. Thousands of people from around the world will travel there to get a good glimpse of this eclipse. Joining our group in Side will be the Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups (many led by professional astronomers).

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2006/why_side.html

Melting Ice: Answers To Oceanic Pollution?

Melting ice sheets could spur oceans' rise
By Deborah Zabarenko

Based on a report by Reuters on Thursday, scientists says Miami would be a memory, Bangkok a soggy shadow of its former self and the Maldive Islands would vanish if melting polar ice keeps fuelling a faster-than-expected rise in sea levels.

In an issue of the journal Science focussing on global warming, climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona reported that if global trends continue, Earth could ultimately see sea levels 20 feet higher than they are now.

One cannot help but wonder if this could be Nature's way to clean up the pollution accumulating in the oceans and seas, renewing the planet Earth for a new lease of life, a new Spring.

By the end of this century, Earth would be at least 4 degrees F (2.3 degrees C) warmer than now, or about as hot as it was nearly 130,000 years ago.

Back then, significant portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melted, pushing the global sea levels to about 20 feet higher than current levels.

A similarly dramatic, and in some cases catastrophic, rise in ocean levels could happen by the year 2500, Overpeck said in a telephone interview, but he noted it could come sooner.

"We know when the sea level was that high in the past, and we know how much warming is necessary to get that amount of sea level rise from both Greenland and Antarctica," Overpeck said.

The Earth will get that hot sometime early in the second half of this century, he said, and once it does, the big ice sheets will start melting "in a more dramatic manner" than they currently are.

A conservative estimate would call for sea level rises of 3 feet (1 metre) per century, he said.

He cautioned, however, that this estimate assumes the Earth will get only as hot as it did 130,000 years ago when the ice sheets melted.

"If we decide to keep on the track we're on now and just keep on warming, because of greenhouse gas pollution, then we could easily cook those ice sheets more rapidly," Overpeck said.

The earlier ice melt was concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere in the summer months, and was due largely to changes in Earth's orbit, he said.

"The climate warming we're in now is global and it's year-round and it's due to human influences on the climate system," he said. "That will be more damaging to the ice sheets than the that warming we had 130,000 years ago."

The ice sheets are already melting, accelerated by relatively warm water that eats away at them, said NASA glacier expert Bob Bindschadler.

"It's not really a debate any more about whether sea level is rising or not. I think the debate has shifted to, how rapidly is sea level rising," Bindschadler said in a telephone briefing.

Overpeck's Web site -- http://www.geo.arizona.edu/dgesl/ -- offers dynamic maps of the projected results of the rise in sea levels.