Everything You Need to Know About the Last Eclipse of 2018

For much of the world, the last chance to catch an eclipse for a while is about to happen. This weekend’s partial solar eclipse will span across many countries in the Northern hemisphere on Saturday, Aug. 11 — becoming what could be the most widely viewed solar eclipse of 2018. The eclipse kicks off at 5:46 a.m. E.T., and will be visible in Greenland before expanding toward Iceland, northern Europe, most of northern Russia and part of northern China, according to NASA. If the weather is good in the morning, when the eclipse starts (around 4:02 a.m. E.T.), then it may become the most viewed solar eclipse of the year. The wide path across parts of the Northern Hemisphere means much more people will be able to catch it than the July 13 partial solar eclipse. Even though it will be visible to a wider swath of the world, the August 11 eclipse still won’t be visible in the U.S. In addition to potentially being the most viewed eclipse, the August 11 eclipse will also be the last eclipse — lunar or solar — of 2018. Eclipses happen approximately every 173 days during what’s called an eclipse season. According to NASA, twice a year, the moon’s orbit crosses paths with the sun’s orbit for 34 days when up to three eclipses can happen. In 2018, the first eclipse was the super blue blood moon on Jan. 31 followed by a partial solar eclipse on the Feb. 15. The Aug. 11 eclipse marks the end of this eclipse season after two previous eclipses dur...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime space Source Type: news