- Jul 4, 2015
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There ought to be a "current events" section that may be biblically related or just general news and science that people can post in, but I posted here thinking this was the closest. As many of you probably know, there's going to be a total solar eclipse crossing the USA on August 21. I won't at this juncture attached a supposed meaning, but just for everyone's info.
The first thing I noticed is that across the USA at least this thing travels in essentially a straight line. Of course a straight line on earth is a great circle arc, but it's the same path a projectile, sound, or a light beam would take. We start in the Northwest USA in the Portland Oregon area and it travels almost due east which is the direction to Charleston South Carolina from Portland on the opposite end of the country. If we were to face due east from Portland and go about 1/4 of the way around the world, we'd end up on the equator actually closer to Brazil than the continent of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, the eclipse ends closer to Africa once it passes the USA, which is a somewhat Northeast bearing (direction) from Portland. Why? The moon is on the ascending node which means it's not only moving generally eastward, but a tad northward as the alignment with the sun fads, thus moving the path north of the east-west line from Portland. Here's the map link:
National Eclipse - August 21, 2017
The first thing I noticed is that across the USA at least this thing travels in essentially a straight line. Of course a straight line on earth is a great circle arc, but it's the same path a projectile, sound, or a light beam would take. We start in the Northwest USA in the Portland Oregon area and it travels almost due east which is the direction to Charleston South Carolina from Portland on the opposite end of the country. If we were to face due east from Portland and go about 1/4 of the way around the world, we'd end up on the equator actually closer to Brazil than the continent of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, the eclipse ends closer to Africa once it passes the USA, which is a somewhat Northeast bearing (direction) from Portland. Why? The moon is on the ascending node which means it's not only moving generally eastward, but a tad northward as the alignment with the sun fads, thus moving the path north of the east-west line from Portland. Here's the map link:
National Eclipse - August 21, 2017
