Observers in Australia and the South Pacific were treated to a total solar eclipse on Nov. 13, 2012. The orbit of Hinode resulted in two eclipses this time, each with a somewhat different perspective. The first eclipse was total. During the second, the moon skimmed the left limb of the Sun for a partial eclipse.
Hinode is a joint JAXA/NASA mission to study the connections of the Sun’s surface magnetism, primarily in and around sunspots. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages Hinode science operation and oversaw development of the scientific instruments provided for the mission by NASA, and industry. The Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., is the lead U.S. investigator for the X-ray Telescope.
The next apparent meeting of Moon and Sun will occur on May 10, 2013 and will again be visible from Australia and islands throughout the Pacific. The east coast of the U.S. will catch a piece of the subsequent eclipse as the sun rises on Nov. 3, 2013 , but it won’t be until October 2014 that most North Americans will again see their daylight dimmed by the Moon.
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