Besselian elements

Abstract: On 1999 August 11, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor which traverses the Eastern Hemisphere The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in the Atlantic and crosses central Europe, the Middle East, and India, where it ends at sunset in the Bay of Bengal A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes northeastern North America, all of Europe, northern Africa, and the western half of Asia Detailed predictions for this event are presented and include besselian elements, geographic coordinates of the path of totality, physical ephemeris of the umbra, topocentric limb profile corrections, local circumstances for approximately 1400 cities, maps of the eclipse path, weather prospects, the lunar limb profile, and the sky during totality Tips and suggestions are also given on how to safely view and photograph the eclipse

Abstract: On 2008 August 01, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half the Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in northern Canada and extends across Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and China. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes northeastern North America, most of Europe and Asia. Detailed predictions for this event are presented and include besselian elements, geographic coordinates of the path of totality, physical ephemeris of the umbra, topocentric limb profile corrections, local circumstances for 308 cities, maps of the eclipse path, weather prospects, the lunar limb profile and the sky during totality. Information on safe eclipse viewing and eclipse photography is included.

Abstract: SPHERICAL ASTRONOMY Elements of Plane Trigonometry Some Properties of Plane Triangles Elements of Spherical Trigonometry Cartesian and Polar Coordinates Terrestrial Latitude and Longitude on the Spherical Earth Elements of Vector Calculus Notes Exercises ASTRONOMICAL REFERENCE SYSTEMS The Alt-Azimuth System The Hour Angle and Declination System The Equatorial System The Ecliptic System The Galactic System Notes TRANSFORMATIONS OF COORDINATES Transformations by Matrix Rotation Transformations by Spherical Trigonometry Some Examples and Applications Exercises THE MOVEMENTS OF THE EARTH AND THE ASTRONOMICAL TIMES The Movements of the Earth The Sidereal Time (ST) The Solar Time and the Equation of Time The Universal Time (UT) The Tropical Year and the Rates of ST and UT The Year and the Julian Calendar The Besselian Year or Annus Fictus The Seasons The Julian Date Notes Exercises THE MOVEMENTS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PLANES First Dynamical Considerations The Precession of the Equinox The Movements of the Fundamental Planes First-Order Effects of the Precession on the Stellar Coordinates The Nutation Approximate Formulae for General Precession and Nutation Newcomb's Rotation Formulae for Precession Precession and Position Angles Notes Exercises DYNAMICS OF EARTH'S ROTATION Newton's Lunisolar Precession The Lunisolar Torque The Precessional Potential The Earth's Free Rotation Recent Developments Notes Exercises ABERRATION OF LIGHT The Solar Aberration The Annual Aberration Lorentz Transformations Effects of Annual Aberration on the Stellar Coordinates The Diurnal Aberration Planetary Aberration The Gravitational Deflection of Light Notes THE PARALLAX The Trigonometric Parallax The Diurnal Parallax Solar and Lunar Parallaxes The Annual Parallax Secular and Dynamical Parallaxes Notes Exercises RADIAL VELOCITIES AND PROPER MOTIONS Radial Velocities Proper Motions Variation of the Equatorial Coordinates Interplay between Proper Motions and Precession Constants Astrometric Radial Velocities Apex of Stellar Motions and Group Parallaxes The Peculiar Motion of the Sun Secular and Statistical Parallaxes Differential Rotation of the Galaxy and Oort's Constants Notes Exercises THE ASTRONOMICAL TIMES The Sidereal Time ST The Solar Time T The Year The Dynamical Time The Atomic Time Notes Exercises THE TERRESTRIAL ATMOSPHERE The Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere The Refraction Effects of Refraction on the Apparent Coordinates The Chromatic Refraction of the Atmosphere Relationships between Refraction Index, Pressure and Temperature Scintillation and Seeing Notes THE TWO-BODY PROBLEM The Barycentric Treatment The Gravitational Attraction The Relative Movement Planetary Masses from Kepler's Third Law Escape Velocity Some Considerations on Artificial Satellites Notes Exercises ORBITAL ELEMENTS AND EPHEMERIDES Kepler's Equation Ephemerides from the Orbital Elements Planetary Configurations and Titius -Bode Law Orbital Elements from the Observations Application to Visual Binary Stars Notes ELEMENTS OF PERTURBATION THEORIES Perturbations of the Planetary Movements Planet Plus Small Moon Case Earth-Moon The Lunar Month and the Librations The Case Planet Plus Planet The Restricted Circular Three-Body Problem A Nonspherical Body Plus a Small Nearby Satellite Other Interesting Cases Notes Exercise ECLIPSES AND OCCULTATIONS Moon's Phases Conditions for the Occurrence of an Eclipse Solar Eclipses Lunar Eclipses Besselian Elements and Magnitude of the Eclipse Number and Repetitions of Eclipses Stellar Occultations Notes Exercises ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOMETRY Visual Magnitudes Extension of the Definition of Magnitude Extinction by the Earth's Atmosphere The Black Body Color Indices and Two-Color Diagrams Calibration of the Apparent Magnitudes in Physical Units Apparent Diameters and Absolute Magnitudes of the Stars The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Interstellar Absorption Extension to the Bodies of the Solar System Radiation Quantities Notes Exercises ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMICAL SPECTROSCOPY Spectroscopic Techniques The Analysis of the Spectral Lines Detailed Balance and the Boltzmann Equation The Saha Equation Criteria of Spectral Classification of Stars The Harvard and the MK Classification Schemes Low Temperature Stars Peculiarities Relationship between the MK Classification and Photometric Parameters Notes Bibliography Index

Abstract: While most NASA eclipse bulletins cover a single eclipse, this publication presents predictions for two solar eclipses during 2010. This has required a different organization of the material into the following sections. Section 1 -- Eclipse Predictions: The section consists of a general discussion about the eclipse path maps, Besselian elements, shadow contacts, eclipse path tables, local circumstances tables, and the lunar limb profile. Section 2 -- Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 Ja n 15: The section covers predictions and weather prospects for the annular eclipse. Section 3 -- Total Solar Eclipse of 2010 Jul 11: The se ction covers predictions and weather prospects for the total eclipse. Section 4 -- Observing Eclipses: The section provides information on eye safety, solar filters, eclipse photography, and making contact timings from the path limits. Section 5 -- Eclipse Resources: The final section contains a number of resources including information on the IAU Working Group on Eclipses, the Solar Eclipse Mailing List, the NASA eclipse bulletins on the Internet, Web sites for the two 2010 eclipses, and a summary identifying the algorithms, ephemerides, and paramete rs used in the eclipse predictions.