May 9, 2013
Categories: Russia, Satellites

According to RIA Novosti, in response to a request posted by bloggers in social networks, Russian space officials have agreed to adjust the work of cameras on a weather satellite to take detailed pictures of the lunar shadow as it moves around the Earth during the May 10 solar eclipse.

Russia’s Electro-L geostationary satellite will capture two images of the Eastern hemisphere in a 30-minute interval early on Friday. The regular imaging frequency of the satellite’s cameras is one image every 30 minutes.

“We will be able to provide a detailed animated picture of the lunar shadow’s movement,” said Sergei Uspensky, from the “Planeta” State Research Center of Space Meteorology.

The scientist said the authors of the request had been notified about the decision, and the imagery would be made public on May 11.

This week’s solar eclipse will be “ring-shaped” as the moon will only partially cover the sun. The event is also known as an annular eclipse.

During annular solar eclipses, the moon casts a shadow on the face of the Earth when it passes between the planet and the sun.

This time, the Russian satellite will capture the movement of the lunar shadow in the very beginning of its path around the Earth as it passes through parts of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia.

The second solar eclipse this year will occur on November 3. It will be a rare hybrid eclipse when an annular eclipse transitions into a total eclipse. The event will be visible in the northern Atlantic Ocean and equatorial Africa.

The Elecrto-L satellite is able to image the Eastern hemisphere in visible and infrared frequencies, additionally providing data on climate change, as well as sea and ocean monitoring.

It was launched in January 2011 as part of Russia’s effort to restore its weather satellite network.

More from this category:
June 23, 2016

Proton boosters will be in use at least up to 2025. After that the quantity of launches will be reduced due to the gradual equipment…

full story
April 29, 2013

According to RIA Novosti, Russian astronomers were the first to watch the brightest of the last five years gamma-flash. Gamma-flashes is one of the most…

full story
July 2, 2014

The reason of Angara booster first test launch from Plesetsk spaceport shift was the leak of oxidizer line pressurization valve venting, – the spokesman for…

full story
September 10, 2013

On Monday the act on Russian ISS segment shift handover was signed and the ceremony of delegation of authority took place, – Mission Control Center…

full story
May 18, 2018

The launch of the “Soyuz MS” spacecraft on the” Soyuz-2.1a” rocket is scheduled for August 2019. The flight of the ship will pass in unmanned…

full story
July 16, 2020

On July 16, 1965, the first scientific station, Proton-1, was launched to conduct research in the field of nuclear and space physics. In accordance with…

full story
October 8, 2018

Today, on October 8, representatives of the technical management and the state commission at the Baikonur cosmodrome issued an opinion on the readiness of the…

full story
April 1, 2019

On March 31, the general assembly of the “Soyuz-2.1a” launch vehicle with the “Progress MS-11” cargo spaceship was completed. The head unit with the spacecraft…

full story