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Equinox Eclipse
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 Sep 21, 07:05 -0700
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 Sep 21, 07:05 -0700
There's a solar eclipse today ...soon. It's followed some hours later by the equinox. When and where is the maximum eclipse (I haven't checked details, but somewhere south of Australia?). And when is the equinox? Looks like it's around 1800 UT on Sep 22.
Eclipses close to the equinoxes should occur when the Moon's orbit is aligned so that the spots where its orbit crosses the ecliptic are near zero degrees Dec. That also implies that the Moon would be reaching its maximum or minimum Dec near the min/max Dec of the ecliptic. In other words, in years when the Moon has maximal or minimal Dec ranges, right? And we know already that we are in a year with near maximal Dec ranges for the Moon. So these things go together.
Frank Reed
