The Continental US and Canada are in for a solar eclipse treat over the next year! A solar eclipse is an awe-inspiring event in which the Moon orbits between the Sun and Earth, causing the Moon's shadow to race across the Earth's surface. In nearly all cases, Solar Eclipses require special eye protection in order to view without causing permanent damage to your eyes.
It pays to plan ahead! The upcoming eclipses cross over heavily populated areas and knowing where you'll view and what lodging you may need will save a lot of headache. Additionally, don't forget that eclipse glasses and telescope filters will only get more expensive (and out of stock) the closer we get to each eclipse!
Astrospheric has added new tools to help you begin planning where and when to view the upcoming Solar Eclipses. Additionally, as each eclipse falls in range of our weather forecasts, it will be possible to overlay the upcoming weather on top of the eclipse data, including Astrospheric's powerful cloud ensemble layer.
Each forecast generated on Astrospheric now includes an eclipse graphic showing the relative altitude of the Sun as well as the times of the different phases of the eclipse. This data is dynamically created for the forecasts location.
Please note that the times and details displayed for the eclipses are shown in the local time for the current forecasted location.
Astrospheric's map view is a simple way to view the paths and duration data for each eclipse. After enabling an eclipse layer, an information panel with duration data will overlay the map. As you move the map around, this data will update with the computed info at the maps center reticle.
Once you've found a location that seems interesting, press "Get New Forecast" to generate an eclipse graphic with the local times for each phase of the eclipse.
In addition to the solar eclipse info, lunar eclipse information has been added to the "Moon Info" portion of the forecast. The eclipse graphic is read in the same way as the solar eclipse graphic. Note that a lunar eclipse graphic will only be shown if 1) an eclipse will be visible from the current forecast location 2) over the next 12 months. In general, lunar and solar eclipses come in pairs seperated by roughly 2 weeks.