06/08/2021 – Ephemeris – The Sun will be partially eclipsed as it rises Thursday

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:22 tomorrow morning.

Thursday morning we in Michigan will witness the last moments of a solar eclipse as the Sun rises. The Sun will be partially eclipsed at sunrise north of a line from North Dakota to South Carolina. For those in a path that will run from the north shore of Lake Superior across western Ontario, through parts of Hudson Bay, to clipping the North Pole and into Siberia will see an annular eclipse. That is, the Moon is too far away, and small to cover the face of the Sun, leaving a bright ring or annulus. A ring of fire, some would say. For us, the Sun will rise around 5:57 am with the Moon taking a big chunk out of its left side. That chunk will recede until the Sun will appear whole again around 6:42 am. I’ll discuss how to view this eclipse tomorrow.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

A Stellarium creation of what the eclipsed Sun would appear about 10 minutes after rising as seen from the Traverse City/Interlochen area.

The visibility map for the June 10, 2021 annular solar eclipse. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far away and appears too small to cover the face of the Sun. So, at maximum, a ring of bright Sun surrounds the Moon. It’s sometimes called a ring of fire. For locations within the big red floppy figure 8, the eclipse either ends near sunrise (bottom lobe) or starts near sunset (top lobe). The double line with the ellipses in it is the path of where the ring is visible, the path of annularity. Locations within the grid on the right will see a partial eclipse. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Fred Espenak, adapted from https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2021Jun10A.GIF