h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How to Experience a Solar Eclipse - A87828637
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

With contributions by:

Beatrice (U190170)
Clive the flying Ostrich (U113478)
Gnomon (U151503)
Happy Nerd (U8584330)
Icy North (U225620)
Magwitch (U780990)
Milla (U153664)
MMF (U236774)
Mol (U222463)
Orcus (U94957)
SashaQ (U9936370)
SiliconDioxide (U170853)
Superfrenchie (U9937105)
swl (U1775547)
Tavaron da Quirm (U1314679)
Wand'rin star (U96784)
You can call me TC (U154942)

A collaboration based on a conversation in Ask (F19585?thread=8308393). This was inspired by the April Create topic of weather – for if 'Sunny' is widely regarded as being weather, lack of sun must surely also count.

h2g2 has articles on what a Solar Eclipse is and how to see one through a pinhole, but up to now has not had one that covers the whole experience. There's more to an eclipse than the sky going dark, as anyone who has experienced one will say.

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You even kept my typos, I'm very touched.

I woke up this morning and though ' - it's the last day of April and I'd meant to do something with this for Create' so it was compiled in a little bit of a hurry, but I'm hoping that no-one'll notice...

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I'd expect an entry on how to experience a solar eclipse to start by warning people not to look at the sun through binoculars or a telescope.

Staring directly at the sun with the naked eye probably won't do you any lasting damage, but through binoculars or telescope, you're risking permanent blindness.

I agree. Although the entry was fun to read, the title is rather misleading. It's less about "How to" and more about the actual experience. I see you've added a warning about the dangers, but this should be further up, as Gnomon says.

It's hard to decide - it reads better this way round, but to do the title justice, the informative sections should come first.

Not bad, considering it was quickly patched together from that thread!

That's a very important point - I've reworded and moved the Important Safety Information section to the very top.

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And I've tweaked the name now too

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And failed to type

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This is great

You might like to finish off your Entry by mentioning that we are living at the only time in history when we can view total solar eclipses, because the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth, so eventually there will be no more total eclipses, just annular eclipses, like http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090125.html

GB

I like the Flash Gordon quote

Ming the Merciless's plan was to crash the moon into the Earth, so there was an eclipse as the moon approached. I think the sentence about the perfect positioning of the Earth, sun and moon therefore needs a bit of clarification, to say that the positioning is perfect in that sometimes the moon appears to be exactly the same size as the sun - Lunar eclipses are good, where the sun is blocked from the moon by the Earth that appears much larger than the sun, and Annular eclipses are good, but the best total eclipses are spectacular for the exactness of it...

Hello both, some changes made.
GB, I've added your point about the Moon moving away from the Earth to the start of the entry, as I thought it is a point important enough to make at the beginning and will encourage a full appreciation of the rest of the entry, and SashaQ, I've reworded the beginning as you've suggested.

Amusingly, as we three have all contributed to this entry, I assume that now it is practically impossible for the entry to be picked and to make it into the Edited Guide.

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It's possible, but it's going to be tricky...

"We are living at the only time in history when we can view total solar eclipses, because the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth. Eventually the cosmic coincidence that the Sun and Moon appear the same size from the Earth will end and there will be no more total eclipses, just annular eclipses."

That's not correct. Total eclipses were visible in the past, since the creation of the moon. It's just that we're coming to the end of the time when they are visible, although I think we've got a few more million years to go before the moon has moved that far out.

I'd reword this as "We're living at the only time in history when the Sun and the Moon appear the same size in the sky. In the past the moon was closer to the Earth and appeared bigger than the sun, which meant that solar eclipses were more common. In the future as the Mon moves away from the earth it will appear smaller than the sun and total solar eclipses will no longer be possibel."

One of the most spectacular natural phenomenon --> One of the most spectacular natural phenomena

You included this quote (from me) twice:

"All the birds stopped singing, and all traffic noises stopped too, as everyone in Ireland stopped what they were doing to watch the eclipse."

You can remove it from the section on darkness and leave it in the section on silence.

Changed.

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"The annular eclipse is a type when the Sun and Moon are in line, but the Moon appears to be smaller than the Sun, which can be seen as a very bright ring, known as an annulus, around the dark Moon."

- this is correct but doesn't really explain it. I'd say "The Moon goes around the Earth in an ellipse (oval) rather than a circle. If an eclipse occurs when the Moon is at its furthest from the Earth, it will appear smaller than the Sun, and will blot out the middle of the Sun, leaving a 'ring of fire' around the Moon. This is called an 'annular eclipse'.

even if you are in the penumbra, not the region of totality -->
even if you are in the penumbra, the region where the sun is only partially covered by the moon

In both the Eclipse Activities and General Advice sections, you have paragraphs about photographing the eclipse. These could be better organised by grouping the photography sections together.

One further anecdote, which you neededn't add to the entry:

While waiting for the 1999 eclipse, I decided to construct a set of shelves out in the garden. In all the excitement I kept getting distracted and had to dismantle the shelves three times before I got them right.

Tweaked.

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"Amusingly, as we three have all contributed to this entry, I assume that now it is practically impossible for the entry to be picked and to make it into the Edited Guide."

Not at all <BB<

Any Scout can recommend it, you can have the pick privilege after one of the other Eds has seconded it (as you are the main author), GB can be the sub-editor and SashaQ can be the proof reader. Simples

h2g2 Eds

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

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