          APOD: 2017 August 11 - A Total Solar Eclipse of Saros 145

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2017 August 11
                                      [2]
                      A Total Solar Eclipse of Saros 145
    Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Tunc Tezel [4] (TWAN [5] ), Alkim Un [6]

Explanation: A darkened sky holds bright planet Venus, the New Moon in
silhouette, and the shimmering corona of the Sun [7] in this image of a total
solar eclipse. A composite of simultaneous telephoto and wide angle frames it
was taken in the path of totality 18 years ago, August 11, 1999, near
Kastamonu, Turkey [8] . That particular solar eclipse is a member of Saros
145. Known historically [9] from observations of the Moon's orbit, the Saros
cycle predicts [10]  when the Sun, Earth, and Moon will return to the same
geometry for a solar (or lunar) eclipse. The Saros has a period of 18 years,
11 and 1/3 days. Eclipses separated by one Saros period belong to the same
numbered Saros series and are very similar. But the path of totality for
consecutive solar eclipses in the same Saros shifts across the Earth because
the planet rotates for an additional 8 hours during the cycle's fractional
day. So the next solar eclipse of Saros 145 [11]  will also be a total
eclipse, and the narrow path of totality will track coast to coast across the
United States on August 21, 2017 [12] .

                  Tomorrow's picture: day of the gnomons [13]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [25] (MTU [26] ) & Jerry Bonnell [27]
                                  (UMCP [28] )
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1708/KastamonuTutulmaX.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] http://www.twanight.org/tezel
  [5] http://www.twanight.org/
  [6] http://www.alkimmedya.com/
  [7] ap990819.html
  [8] http://newton.physics.metu.edu.tr/~aat/tunc/tezel.html
  [9] ap130120.html
  [10] http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEsaros.html
  [11] http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEsaros/SEsaros145.html
  [12] https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/
  [13] ap170812.html
  [14] ap170810.html
  [15] archivepix.html
  [16] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [17] lib/aptree.html
  [18] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [19] calendar/allyears.html
  [20] /apod.rss
  [21] lib/edlinks.html
  [22] lib/about_apod.html
  [23] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=170811
  [24] ap170812.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [26] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [27] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [28] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [29] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [30] http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [31] http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [32] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [33] http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [34] http://www.mtu.edu/
