06:52 PM
Wednesday October 19 2022
Books – Youssef Afifi:
Next Tuesday, Egypt will witness the phenomenon of a partial eclipse of the sun, which can be seen in Cairo at approximately 12 noon, and the timing of its middle coincides with the conjunction of the month of Rabi’ al-Akhir for the current Hijri year 1444.
It is scheduled, according to the Institute of Astronomy, that the peak of the partial eclipse in Cairo will be at approximately one o’clock and nine minutes in the followingnoon, as the moon’s disk covers regarding 37.3% of the sun’s disk, and the partial eclipse ends at approximately two and 16 minutes, thus taking the partial eclipse since its beginning in Cairo Until the end of regarding 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Dr. Ashraf Tadros, professor of astrophysics at the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research, revealed that a solar eclipse is the occurrence of the moon’s shadow on the Earth and occurs during the day, and that a lunar eclipse is the occurrence of the Earth’s shadow on the moon and occurs at night, and a solar eclipse (whether total, partial or annular) does not occur. Never unless the moon is new, i.e. when the moon is between the sun and the earth (so that the shadow of the moon falls on the earth), and an eclipse of the moon never occurs unless the moon is full, i.e. when the earth is between the sun and the moon (so that the shadow of the earth falls on the moon), and on this For solar and lunar eclipses, the period between them is always regarding two weeks, which is the period that separates the new moon and the full moon. Therefore, the eclipse of the sun on October 25 is followed by a lunar eclipse on November 8, but it is not seen in Egypt.
Tadros pointed out that the new moon occurs once a month, and it is an invisible coupling between the sun and the moon, where the moon rises with the sun and sets with it, and as a result we do not see the moon in this case, because the coupling of any celestial body with the sun can never see this body Because of the intensity of the sun’s illumination, but when this object is a little far from the sun, then we can see it following sunset or just before its sunrise. Therefore, the eclipse phenomenon is a visible coupling of the sun and the moon, where they are on one straight line with the earth, as we find the moon’s disk obscuring the sun’s disk or Part of it.
He pointed out that we can call this visible conjunction (hidden), where the sun is hidden behind the moon, because the phenomenon of veiling never occurs unless the two celestial bodies are on the same line with the earth, and accordingly the new moon is always born following the peak of the monthly conjunction, or following a solar eclipse Immediately, that is, following exiting the state of latency.
He pointed out that in the event of a solar eclipse, and because the size of the moon is small in relation to the Earth, its shadow covers only a specific spot of the Earth’s surface during the day, and for this reason, only the countries located in this shadow spot can see the eclipse of the sun. The earth is large in relation to the moon, its shadow covers the whole moon, so all countries located in the night hemisphere see a lunar eclipse.
He explained that the phenomenon of eclipses is a conjunction and a veil, so the total eclipse of the moon that we see here on Earth is also a total eclipse of the sun when we see it from the surface of the moon.
And he continued: “To the flattened, I say that the phenomenon of eclipses and eclipses proves the sphericity of the earth, not only the earth, but the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars as well. In the shadow of the moon on the earth.
Tadros continued: As for the seriousness of this phenomenon, we always note that all observations of astronomical phenomena do not have any harm to human health or daily activity on Earth, except for daytime phenomena related to the sun, as looking at the sun with the naked eye in general harms the eye a lot.
Tadros advised using approved solar filters and avoiding the use of other traditional methods such as smoked glass, regular sunglasses, medical X-ray films, old magnetic disks, and others, because they do not block all harmful rays, but only part of them, and therefore represent a serious danger as It can burn the retina of the eye if used for more than 30 seconds!! What makes it really dangerous is that the retina does not sense pain, the person will not feel that this is happening and the effects may not appear until hours following the damage has occurred.
