Even if you live in the U.S. and Canada, you can experience the first partial solar eclipse online

By D. Beeksma
On January 3, 2011 At 9:00 pm

Category : News

Responses : 6 Comments

Even if you live in the U.S. and Canada, you can experience the first partial solar eclipse online

partial solar eclipseThe first of four solar eclipse events begins in just a few hours, shadowing Algeria and Western Europe.

Although the partial eclipse will not be visible in the United States, astronomy buffs might want to check out uStream or JustinTV to see  if any live stream broadcasts are available. Unfortunately, official space agencies do not appear to be broadcasting the event.

However, you can opt to experience the eclipse on the ground, so to speak.  Log on to some live city web cam websites and experience the eclipse vicariously. Our personal favorite is in Amsterdam, which features a live stream with sound.  OpenTopia features live webcams from around the world and of course, you can always Google live webcams.

What happens in a partial solar eclipse is that the sun, moon and earth are aligned, with the moon in the middle.   From the point of view of the earth, the moon does not completely overlap the sun.  The penumbra — a Latin word — is the portion of a shadow resulting from the source of illumination being only partially blocked. The partial solar eclipse, where the penumbra will touch, covers Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.  Here is a simulation:

The Eclipse begins at approximately 6:40 UT which translates to the following:

  • EASTERN:  1:40 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • CENTRAL:  12:40 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • MOUNTAIN (and Arizona):  11:40 P.M. (01/03/2011).
  • PACIFIC:  10:40 P.M. (01/03/2011).

The greatest eclipse will occur at about 8:50 UT and will be most visible in northern Sweden. This translates to:

  • EASTERN:  3:50 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • CENTRAL:  02:50 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • MOUNTAIN (and Arizona):  01:50 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • PACIFIC:  12:50 A.M. (01/04/2011).

The event ends at 11:00 UT, which is:

  • EASTERN:  6:00 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • CENTRAL:  5:00 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • MOUNTAIN (and Arizona):  4:00 A.M. (01/04/2011).
  • PACIFIC:  3:00 A.M. (01/04/2011).

In case you miss today's partial solar eclipse, the next event will occur on June 1, 2011 … after Jesus returns and the world is in the throes of a horrible end times cleansing if you believe Harold Camping's predictions.  As author Dakota O'Leary pointed out, eclipses were at one time viewed with superstition and thought to be omens for apocalyptic events.  2011 provides plenty of fodder for eclipse-like prophesies, with four partial solar eclipses and two total lunar eclipses.

D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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  • http://www.goddiscussion.com admin

    Be real careful with some of the alleged live stream solar eclipse presentations on the Internet. Most, if not all of them, contain malware. Stick with the ones we've listed in the article and enjoy!

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  • Winston

    # MOUNTAIN (and Arizona): 11:40 P.M. (01/03/2011).
    # PACIFIC: 10:40 P.M. (01/03/2011).

    Wow! I've always wanted to see a solar eclipse at night!

  • Trevor

    OBAMA FULFILLING THE BIBLE

    Pres. Lincoln stated: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man." But several Bible verses are embarrassing to Pres. Obama:
    Proverbs 19:10 (NIV): "It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury – how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!"
    Also Proverbs 30:22 (NIV) which says that the earth cannot bear up under "a servant who becomes king."
    And Ecclesiastes 5:2-3 (KJV) advises: "let thy words be few…a fool's voice is known by multitude of words."
    Although Obama is not descended from slaves, he may feel that he's destined to become a black-slavery avenger.
    Or maybe an enslaver of all free citizens!
    For some stunning info on Pres. Obama and his fellow subversives, Google "Michelle Obama's Allah-day," "Obama Supports Public Depravity," "David Letterman's Hate Etc.," "Un-Americans Fight Franklin Graham" and also "Sandra Bernhard, Larry David, Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman."
    PS – Since Christians are commanded to ask God to send severe judgment on persons who commit and support the worst forms of evil (see I Cor. 5 and note "taken away"), Christians everywhere should constantly pray that the Lord will soon "take away" or at least overthrow all US leaders, including Obama, who continue to sear their conscience and arrogantly trample the God-given rights of the majority including the rights of the unborn. Do we need a second American Revolution?
    (Theologically radioactive Harold Camping prophesied that Christ would return during Sep. 1994. Undaunted, con man Camping now predicts it will occur in May of 2011. Since Deut. 18:20-22 requires the death penalty for false prophets, Camping and his deluded groupies deserve inclusion in the above "take away" prayers. False prophets in the OT were stoned to death. Today they are just stoned!)
    PPS – For a rare look at the 180-year-old, imported-from-British-crazies endtime escapist belief which has long neutralized millions by promising them an "imminent rapture" off earth – which has diverted them away from being prepared to stand against all enemies, domestic as well as foreign – Google "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" and "Pretrib Rapture – Hidden Facts."

  • Donald

    If you believe that Obama is secretly a muslim and trying to institute Sharia (fundamentalist Muslim) Law, you have been suckered! All you have to do is look at his wife. She wears American and European dress styles, not a veil as she would if he was planning to introduce Sharia Law.

    • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

      That's what I've been telling people in this area since before he was elected. Nobody ever listens to me though. Maybe you'll have better luck getting them to listen to you and you have the same observation as I do.