First partial solar eclipse of the year to happen tomorrow, January 4, 2011

The year 2010 brought us a total eclipse of the moon, and the universe in 2011 promises not just one, but four partial solar eclipses, along with two total lunar eclipses in June and December. The first partial solar eclipse will happen tomorrow, January 4, 2011, according to NASA [...]

First partial solar eclipse of the year to happen tomorrow, January 4, 2011

The year 2010 brought us a total eclipse of the moon, and the universe in 2011 promises not just one, but four partial solar eclipses, along with two total lunar eclipses in June and December.  The first partial solar eclipse will happen tomorrow, January 4, 2011, according to NASA, first touching down in Algeria at 6:40:11 UT.  As the shadow travels east, Western Europe will be able to see the partial eclipse at sunrise.

For fun, here's a bit of eclipse lore.   Eclipses have been in the past, widely feared as an apocalyptic sign.  According to Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions, "people have long feared the eclipse of the sun or moon, not infrequently attributing the happening to evil spirits trying to rob the Earth of light. Eclipses have often been interpreted as harbingers of death of some high ranking monarch such as the Roman Emperor Nero and Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry the Eighth of England in 1536.  Eclipses have also been feared as presaging some kind of national calamity, such as the bubonic plague of 1348, and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Considerable panic has accompanied predictions that eclipses mark the start of the end of the world" (93).  With dead birds dropping out of the sky, and thousands of dead fish in Arkansas, it would seem 2011 is the year of cosmic chaos.  This remains to be seen, but if you have a telescope for the lunar eclipses and a safe paper viewer for the partial solar eclipse (don't look at solar eclipses with a telescope or your bare eyes!)

Lore aside, this will be quite the event for our European friends.  Around 40 percent of the Sun's surface will be covered by the eclipse.

Dakota O'Leary

Dakota O'Leary is a freethinker, and often sassy, scholar of theology and literature. She got her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Theology from the State University of New York College at Buffalo, and her Master of Arts degree in Theology and Literature from Antioch University-Midwest. She is a contributing writer focusing on eschatology, biblical prophecy, and general religious news. Dakota is a co-host of the God Discussion radio show, offering insight to the news stories of the week. We like to call her "our in-house Biblical prophecy expert" as her articles on eschatology have received over 200,000 views on God Discussion.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

  • http://www.meerkatroofing.ca/ Calgary Roofer

    The news about the raining of dead black birds and the white fishes in Arkansas was really horrible. Lots of dead birds and fishes were still under the investigation and experimentation to know the causes of their deaths. Some reports have said that it was due to the new climate changes and others were because of chemicals reaction both in air and water that might hit them. But still people are wondering how did it happened for thousands of birds falling from the sky and floating fishes in the sea.