Chapter 69: Solar Eclipse

On the first day of the fifth month, today is a special day. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAccording to historical records, in May, Xin Weishuo, there is a solar eclipse. In other words, there was a solar eclipse on the first day of the fifth month. This solar eclipse is rare to see, and it is said to be a total solar eclipse, Ye Wenke has to prepare well, and invited Princess Runan to watch the solar eclipse together.

Princess Runan was invited by Ye Wen and came over early. Because there was no eclipse when I came, I was not in a hurry, so I ate fruit together, chatted, watched TV, and waited for the eclipse to arrive.

A solar eclipse, also known as an eclipse, is the movement of the moon between the sun and the earth, if the three are exactly in a straight line, the moon will block the light of the sun to the earth, and the black shadow behind the moon falls on the earth, and the solar eclipse phenomenon occurs. This solar eclipse is known in folklore as the Tengu Eclipse. A solar eclipse must occur on the New Year's Day, the first day of the lunar calendar, when the Moon and the Sun are in conjunction. Solar eclipses are divided into partial solar eclipses, total solar eclipses, annular solar eclipses, and total annular eclipses. You can't look directly at the sun when observing a solar eclipse, otherwise it will cause temporary blindness, and in severe cases, permanent blindness.

Solar eclipsesFor ancient people, solar eclipses were very terrifying. The ancient ruling class of China believed that the occurrence of a solar eclipse should be due to the king's immorality, political disorder, and offending the heavens, so it was not just a matter of warning that the world should be condemned. Folk believe that evil gods such as "tengu" are working against people and deliberately destroying the sun on which all things live. Legend has it that there was once a fatal solar eclipse reporting error. Two astronomers in the second century BC did not report eclipses for some reason. At that time, the emperor considered himself the Son of Heaven and attached great importance to celestial phenomena, believing that they were hints from heaven, so he invited a group of astronomers to observe celestial phenomena regularly. Comets and meteors could not be predicted at that time, but eclipses could be predicted. The two astronomers did not inform the emperor of the occurrence of this major celestial phenomenon, and the emperor was furious and beheaded the two for public display.

Solar eclipses are only ornamental to ordinary people, but for scientists, total solar eclipses are highly valued. The main reason why a total solar eclipse is valued is that it is of great astronomical value, because the moon will dim the originally dazzling sun and reveal the coronal layer that is not easy to observe. There are many major astronomical and physical discoveries in the history of science that have been made using the opportunity of total solar eclipses, and only through such chances. The most famous example is a total solar eclipse in 1919, which confirmed the correctness of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In 1915, Albert Einstein published what at the time seemed extremely difficult and implausible to understand and implausible, a theory that predicted that light would bend in a huge gravitational field. The strongest gravitational field that humans can access is the sun, but the sun itself emits a strong light, and it is impossible to see whether the faint starlight in the distance turns when it passes near the sun. But if a total solar eclipse occurs and the sunlight is blocked, it can be measured whether the light has turned a corner and how much it has turned. Opportunity presented itself in 1919, but the total solar eclipse belt was far away and arduous in the South Atlantic. British astronomer Eddington set out with an expedition of great enthusiasm and curiosity. The observations were in good agreement with Einstein's calculations, and the theory of relativity was recognized by the world.

At about eight o'clock in the morning, the solar eclipse was coming, and Ye Wen took Lin Xiaomei and Princess Runan up to the ground. When they came to the deck chairs next to the pool, the parasols were useless, so they never opened up, and they would not be obscured from watching the eclipse.

Because the eclipse cannot be watched with the naked eye, Ye Wen prepared some equipment such as special glasses and sunscreen for watching the day, Ye Wen distributed glasses to them, and put some food on the small table next to the recliner, and then Ye Wen put on sunscreen and then lay comfortably on the recliner, ready to watch the eclipse.

Lin Xiaomei and Princess Runan saw Ye Wen like this, and followed Ye Wen to put on glasses and sunscreen and lie on the recliner, these three people had the smell of sunbathing, but the two girls didn't wear bikinis.

Finally, Ye Wen and their wait didn't last long, and the moon went faster than the apparent motion of the sun. During a solar eclipse, the moon catches up with the sun, and when the eastern edge of the moon just "touches" the western edge of the sun, it is called the first "exodus", which is the beginning of the solar eclipse, that is, the moment when the solar eclipse process begins. Total solar eclipses are divided into five stages: initial loss, eclipse, eclipse, regeneration, and recovery.

The first loss to the eclipse was about an hour, so during the period of watching the solar eclipse, Ye Wen and the others couldn't always stare at the sun, which hurt their eyes too much, and they had to take a break occasionally.

Over the next hour or so, the shape of the sun gradually changed, from a round shape to a crescent moon, and the shape of the crescent moon became more and more slender.

Finally, the right side of the sun has been completely covered, leaving only a slight light in the northwest corner, when the east side of the moon surface and the east side of the sun surface overlap, the circle of the sun is obscured, and the intensity and heat are also significantly reduced.

Immediately after that, the circle of the sun is completely obscured, and only a ring of light around it can be seen, and the brightness of the halo is about the same as that of the full moon, and this ring of light is the corona. This whole phenomenon is the eclipse, which is the most magical and wonderful part of the total solar eclipse, and the whole process takes only a few minutes.

During this period, many bright spots appear in the southeast corner of the sun, which is known as the "Bailey Pearl". "Bailey beads" are formed by sunlight shining through the crater gap at the edge of the moon's silhouette when the moon is about to completely obscure the sun. The sparkling highlights are like pearls, clear and shiny. When the eclipse appeared, the sky also darkened, as if the sun had set, and the surroundings were pitch black, and it was really like entering the night.

As time passed, the eclipse continued, and the eastern part of the sun gradually produced bright light, and the sky became brighter, and what the ancients called "Tian Zaidan" appeared. At this time, the moon continues to move eastward, when the west edge of the moon surface and the west edge of the solar surface are intangent, it is called the moment of the end of the total solar eclipse, the original chromosphere, heliocora, corona and other phenomena that can be seen during the total solar eclipse are quickly hidden in the sun, and the sun shines on the earth again.

After the light is generated, the lunar surface continues to move away from the solar surface, and the obscured part of the sun gradually decreases, and the moment when the western edge of the lunar surface tangent to the eastern edge of the solar surface is called a double circle. At this time, the sun takes on the shape of a disk again, and the entire total solar eclipse process is over.

The entire process of watching the eclipse lasted about three hours, starting in the morning and ending exactly at noon. In more than three hours, Ye Wen explained the cause of the solar eclipse to Princess Runan and Lin Xiaomei by the way, and they were also thoughtful and their thinking was a lot broader.