{"id":1834268,"date":"2024-09-26T18:33:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T22:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1834268"},"modified":"2024-09-26T18:33:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T22:33:58","slug":"nasas-more-accurate-eclipse-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/09\/nasas-more-accurate-eclipse-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s More Accurate Eclipse Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/a>
NASA SVS\/Ernie Wright and Michaela Garrison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the 2017 solar eclipse, NASA published eclipse maps<\/a> that took the irregular umbral shadow of the moon into account: the umbra is neither circular nor oval but irregular\u2014more polygonal\u2014thanks to the uneven topography and elevation of both the moon and the earth. Not accounting for that introduces errors into the map that could make the difference between observing a partial rather than a total eclipse. The process behind those more accurate eclipse maps<\/a>, which involves computer processing of both lunar and terrestrial elevation models, has now been published in The Astrophysical Journal<\/a><\/em>. [Bad Astronomy<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the 2017 solar eclipse, NASA published eclipse maps that took the irregular umbral shadow of the moon into account: the umbra is neither circular nor oval but irregular\u2014more polygonal\u2014thanks to the uneven topography and… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[864,865,12],"class_list":["post-1834268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-astronomy","tag-eclipse","tag-eclipses","tag-nasa","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1819028,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/10\/mapping-two-solar-eclipses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":0},"title":"Mapping Two Solar Eclipses","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 October 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"Two upcoming solar eclipses in North America\u2014the annular eclipse on October 14, and the total eclipse on April 8, 2024\u2014are the subject of numerous eclipse maps that track the path of totality and its duration along that path. NASA\u2019s Solar Eclipse Explorer currently focuses on this month\u2019s annular eclipse, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map of the path of the annular eclipse on October 14, 2023, across the American Southwest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1829708,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/04\/new-eclipse-map-claims-narrower-path-of-totality\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":1},"title":"New Eclipse Map Claims Narrower Path of Totality","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 April 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"CNN: \u201cNew map calculations have raised some concerns that the path of totality\u2014where it\u2019s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun\u2014is slightly narrower than NASA calculated. That means some cities on the edge of the route that were expecting to experience a second or two of total\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4660,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/08\/an-almost-too-late-roundup-of-historical-and-unusual-eclipse-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":2},"title":"An Almost-Too-Late Roundup of Historical and Unusual Eclipse Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 August 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"I meant to post this before today's solar eclipse, but I spent a good chunk of the past few days dealing with basic site maintenance; during the eclipse itself I was, well, observing and photographing it. But while the iron may not be as red-hot as it was even eight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/halley-eclipse-182x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1829208,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/03\/cloud-cover-risk-during-the-2024-solar-eclipse\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":3},"title":"Cloud Cover Risk During the 2024 Solar Eclipse","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 March 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Eclipses aren\u2019t any fun if you travel to go see one and it\u2019s cloudy. I\u2019ve been debating with myself what to do about next month\u2019s total solar eclipse: the path of totality is a couple hours\u2019 drive away and therefore manageable, but from what I\u2019ve gathered the odds of clear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2024-eclipse-clouds-1-300x242.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4589,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/07\/mapping-the-august-2017-solar-eclipse\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":4},"title":"Mapping the August 2017 Solar Eclipse","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 July 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Eclipse maps\u2014maps that show the path of solar eclipses across the surface of the Earth\u2014are very much a thing. As I wrote in my first blog post about eclipse maps back in 2010, \"These maps are vital to eclipse chasers, who spend vast sums travelling to places where they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drive times to the centerline of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/eclipse-drive-times-1024x791.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/eclipse-drive-times-1024x791.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/eclipse-drive-times-1024x791.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/eclipse-drive-times-1024x791.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1830074,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/04\/xkcd-every-eclipse-path-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834268,"position":5},"title":"xkcd: ‘Every Eclipse Path Map’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 April 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Looks like we\u2019re not quite done with eclipse maps, especially the whimsical sort, and it\u2019s not at all invalid for xckd to have (what is probably going to be) the last word on the subject (at least for a while), with this fictional map showing the fictional path of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An xkcd cartoon about eclipse path maps.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/xkcd-every-eclipse-path-map-250x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1834268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1834270,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834268\/revisions\/1834270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1834268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1834268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1834268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}