NASA has mapped every eclipse that will occur for the next 1,000 years

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA has mapped every eclipse that will occur for the next 1,000 years
Vox
Updated by Brian Resnick@[email protected]   Aug 18, 2017, 2:08pm EDT



How's this for a long-range forecast?

NASA knows that on January 27, in the year 2837, a total solar eclipse will pass over southern Mexico. If the onlookers (our descendants or our conquering alien overlords) are lucky, and it's a clear day, they'll see something like this — a show that's captivated people on this planet for as long as we've been on Earth.



Pacific Press/ Getty


NASA knows this because the space agency keeps a five millennium catalog of all the eclipses (both solar and lunar) that have occurred or will occur since 1999 B.C. to the year A.D. 3000.

They even know the exact time, down to the fraction of a second, that the eclipses will occur. Here are the stats for that 2837 eclipse over Mexico.




 
NASA is able to make eclipse predictions because it has all of the variables: the orbit of the Earth around the sun, the orbit of the moon around the Earth, and the daily rotation of the Earth.

But these calculations aren't all that simple. For one, the moon's orbit around the Earth is constantly changing (there are actually several ways to measure the length of a lunar month, which complicates matters). Still, it boils down to this: Any given eclipse will repeat on an "eight years, 11 days, eight hours" cycle, or what's known as the Saros cycle. And though the eclipses repeat, they don't repeat in the exact same locations.

"Because the Saros period is not equal to a whole number of days, its biggest drawback is that subsequent eclipses are visible from different parts of the globe," NASA explains. (For a more thorough explanation of how eclipses are predicted, check out this video.)

On this website, which draws from NASA's data, you can explore all the solar eclipses (total, partial, annular, or hybrid) and map them. I wanted to know if there would ever be a total solar eclipse on my birthday, August 27. There will be! Unfortunately it will be in 2212, and it will occur over the southern Atlantic Ocean. (You can similarly explore lunar eclipses here).



The map of an August 27, 2212, eclipse over the South Atlantic. I'll have been dead for a long time. (Via http://xjubier.free.fr/)


There's some comfort in knowing that people 1,000 years from now can look up in wonderment at the same natural phenomenon we see today. Life on Earth may change, but the cosmic properties of the Earth itself will not.

For the near term, know that there will be a few total solar eclipses over North America during our lifetimes. NASA has them mapped, too.



NASA


The next chance to check out a total solar eclipse on this continent will, of course, be on August 21.



(Via http://xjubier.free.fr/)


https://www.vox.com/2016/4/29/11527892/eclipses-mapped-nasa

[Geo]

How's the weather forecast for tomorrow?

[Buster's Uncle]

It looks like we're in for some partly cloudy...

Afternoons have been bad for clear sky, recently.  We're having a wet summer, with frequent afternoon showers.

[Geo]

I watched my first eclipse (back in 1999) in louzy weather too.

Back the sun was mostly hidden behind the clouds from first contact just up right before the totality itself. Then the clouds broke open and the rain stopped.

My parents and sister had settled on a spot a hundred km or so more to the west, and had no luck.

[Buster's Uncle]

There's currently a lot more sky than clouds visible out my window...

[Geo]

Grab your family, push them in (one of) the car(s), and start rolling.

[Buster's Uncle]

We've seen eclipses before.

[Geo]

Didn't know that. When and where? 

[Unorthodox]

Traffic is a nightmare with folks heading towards the totality path. 

I'm supposed to get 95ish% where I sit.  The place is practically empty, with everyone going to view.  (it's started transitioning here, peak in about an hour) 

[Buster's Uncle]

Didn't know that. When and where? 

Here.  The 70s, I think.  It's been a long time.

[Buster's Uncle]

The sun is a little flat on one side ATM - but it's behind a cloud, not emerging in a hurry, so not looking good for strange shadows...  It looks a tad dim outside, odd for a sunny day.

[Unorthodox]

So, hundreds out with telescopes and glasses...

I took my  key to a paper bag...





Even I spent too much effort as nature already had us covered. 

[Unorthodox]

Didn't get as dark as I expected for 90+% covered.  Similar to a winter's day. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Just passed peak, here.  Checking my pics, and going back out in ten minutes to get a shot of the horns pointing the other way...