2011 to usher in first solar eclipse

Mon Jan 3, 2011

The first eclipse of the Sun in 2011 is due to occur on January 4 as the Moon prepares to partially veil the star in the solar system.

The peak of this year's first partial solar eclipse will be observable in parts of Europe and Africa on Tuesday when between two-thirds and three-quarters of the Sun will be darkened.

According to US space agency NASA, the penumbral eclipse will first touch earth's surface in northern Algeria.

Most of northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia also lie in the lunar shadow's path, NASA says.

Citizens of Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon will witness a large fraction of the Sun's diameter obscured by the Moon.

As the lunar shadow moves eastward, a smaller eclipse will be visible at sunset from central Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and northwest China.

No total or annular eclipses occur during 2011, but there will be four partial solar eclipses.

The solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned.

The Sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther away. The symmetry means the lunar shadow, or umbra, is just wide enough to cover the face of the Sun as seen from the earth.

The last total solar eclipse was on July 11, 2010, crossing the Southern Pacific.

The next will be on November 13, 2012.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158399.html.