370 solar eclipse enthusiasts in Singapore stay indoors due to rain

370 solar eclipse enthusiasts in Singapore stay indoors due to rain
By Jessica Yeo, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : 370 Singaporeans gathered at the Singapore Science Centre to catch the solar eclipse on Wednesday morning, but they ended up staying indoors because of the rain which resulted in poor visibility.

10 per cent of the eclipse could have been seen in Singapore between 8:41am and 9:43am, with its optimum position at 9:11am.

The next eclipse is expected on 15 January 2010, and Singaporeans will be able to catch 30 per cent of it.

But Singapore will have to wait until 2019 for the annular eclipse if residents want to see the moon's shadow totally cast on the sun.

"The eclipse is caused by the moon casting a shadow on the Earth and this time round, the path of the shadow passes through the densely populated areas in China. Singapore happens to be literally at the fringe of the activity," said Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, CEO of Singapore Science Centre.

- CNA /ls

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Solar eclipse 2009: Totality crosses eastern Asia

Unfortunately, it is raining quite heavily from 8 am till 9 plus in Singapore today. So it is not possible to view the eclipse.

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Singapore to experience minimal effects of upcoming solar eclipse

Singapore to experience minimal effects of upcoming solar eclipse


S’pore to experience minimal effects of the upcoming eclipse

SINGAPORE: Come Wednesday, China, India and Japan will be seeing its longest total solar eclipse in almost 500 years.

But Singapore will have to wait a little longer to experience the full eclipse.

Scientists said Singapore will only experience a partial solar eclipse between 8.40am and 9.40am.

They added that unlike other countries there will be minimal changes to temperature and visibility.

The Singapore Science Centre will be providing special equipment for members of the public to view the eclipse.

It will also have talks about the astronomical phenomenon.

- CNA/vm

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July eclipse is best chance to look for gravity anomaly

July eclipse is best chance to look for gravity anomaly
18:00 19 July 2009 by Phil McKenna

From remote observatories on the Tibetan plateau to a cave in a Shanghai suburb, Chinese researchers are poised to conduct an audacious once-in-a-century experiment. The plan is to test a controversial theory: the possibility that gravity drops slightly during a total eclipse.

Geophysicists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are preparing an unprecedented array of highly sensitive instruments at six sites across the country to take gravity readings during the total eclipse due to pass over southern China on 22 July. The results, which will be analysed in the coming months, could confirm once and for all that anomalous fluctuations observed during past eclipses are real.

"It sounds like what is really necessary to break the uncertainty," says Chris Duif of Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. "I'm not really convinced the anomaly exists, but it would be revolutionary if it turned out to be true," he says.

Pendulum anomaly
The first sign that gravity fluctuates during an eclipse was in 1954. French economist and physicist Maurice Allais noticed erratic behaviour in a swinging pendulum when an eclipse passed over Paris.

Pendulums typically swing back and forth as a result of gravity and the rotation of the Earth. At the start of the eclipse, however, the pendulum's swing direction shifted violently (see diagram), suggesting a sudden change in gravitational pull.

Fluctuations have since been measured during around 20 total solar eclipses, but the results still remain inconclusive.

Relative doubt
Most physicists doubt the anomaly's existence, because it would challenge our ideas about how gravity works.

As a result, a number of conventional explanations have been suggested. "There could be different reasons: atmospheric changes in temperature or air pressure, people suddenly moving or not moving, or other sudden changes," says C. S. Unnikrishnan of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India.

However, in 2004, Duif posted a theory online concluding that none of the suggested external factors could account for the magnitude and timing of observed anomalies (see www.arxiv.org/abs/0408023).

Best chance
In the run up to July's eclipse, Chinese researchers have prepared eight gravimeters and two pendulums spread across six monitoring sites. The team hopes that the vast distance between the sites (roughly 3000 kilometres (1864 miles) between the most easterly and westerly stations), as well as the number and diversity of instruments used, will eliminate the chance of instrument error or local atmospheric disturbances.

"If our equipment operates correctly, I believe we have a chance to say the anomaly is true beyond all doubt," says Tang Keyun, a geophysicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The opportunity won't come again soon. At over five minutes, the event will be the longest total solar eclipse predicted for this century. What's more, the event will occur when the sun is high in the sky; a time when, according to Tang, any potential gravitational anomaly should be greatest.

-NS

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Sunrise & Sunset Times for Singapore

Sunrise & Sunset Times for Singapore

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Sunrise/Sunset For Singapore(hours and minutes in local time)
	May 2009			June 2009
DAY	RISE	SET		RISE	SET
1	0657	1907		0657	1909
2	0657	1907		0657	1909
3	0657	1907		0657	1909
4	0657	1907		0658	1909
5	0657	1907		0658	1910
6	0657	1907		0658	1910
7	0657	1907		0658	1910
8	0656	1907		0658	1910
9	0656	1907		0658	1910
10	0656	1907		0659	1911
11	0656	1907		0659	1911
12	0656	1907		0659	1911
13	0656	1907		0659	1911
14	0656	1907		0659	1911
15	0656	1907		0700	1912
16	0656	1907		0700	1912
17	0656	1907		0700	1912
18	0656	1907		0700	1912
19	0656	1907		0700	1912
20	0656	1907		0701	1913
21	0656	1907		0701	1913
22	0656	1907		0701	1913
23	0656	1907		0701	1913
24	0656	1908		0701	1914
25	0656	1908		0702	1914
26	0656	1908		0702	1914
27	0657	1908		0702	1914
28	0657	1908		0702	1914
29	0657	1908		0703	1915
30	0657	1908		0703	1915
31	0657	1909

- wong chee tat :)

Moonrise and Moonset Times and Moonphase Information for Singapore (April and May 2009)

Moonrise and Moonset Times and Moonphase Information for Singapore

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	MOONRISE, MOONSET FOR SINGPAPORE AND FRACTION OF MOON ILLUMINATED AT 2000LT (LOCAL TIME in hours and minutes (hhmm))
	April 2009			May 2009
DAY	RISE	SET	FRACTION	RISE	SET	FRACTION
1	1151	----	0.32	1245	0020	0.40
2	1253	0026	0.43	1339	0115	0.52
3	1353	0127	0.55	1429	0205	0.63
4	1449	0224	0.66	1516	0253	0.73
5	1542	0318	0.76	1602	0338	0.82
6	1632	0408	0.85	1648	0423	0.89
7	1719	0455	0.92	1735	0508	0.95
8	1806	0541	0.97	1823	0554	0.98
9	1853	0627	0.99	1913	0643	1.00
10	1941	0713	1.00	2004	0733	0.99
11	2030	0801	0.98	2056	0824	0.97
12	2121	0850	0.94	2148	0916	0.92
13	2213	0941	0.88	2238	1007	0.87
14	2305	1032	0.81	2325	1056	0.80
15	2355	1124	0.73	----	1143	0.71
16	----	1214	0.65	0010	1228	0.63
17	0044	1303	0.55	0053	1311	0.53
18	0131	1349	0.46	0135	1354	0.43
19	0216	1434	0.37	0217	1437	0.34
20	0259	1518	0.27	0259	1521	0.24
21	0342	1601	0.19	0344	1609	0.16
22	0424	1646	0.12	0432	1700	0.09
23	0508	1732	0.06	0525	1756	0.03
24	0555	1821	0.02	0622	1857	0.01
25	0645	1915	0.00	0725	2002	0.00
26	0740	2013	0.01	0830	2107	0.03
27	0839	2114	0.05	0935	2210	0.09
28	0942	2218	0.11	1037	2308	0.17
29	1045	2321	0.19	1133	----	0.27
30	1147	----	0.29	1226	0002	0.37
31				1314	0051	0.49

- wong chee tat :)

Sunrise & Sunset Times for Singapore

Sunrise & Sunset Times for Singapore

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Sunrise/Sunset For Singapore(hours and minutes in local time)
	December 2008			January 2009
DAY	RISE	SET		RISE	SET
1	0653	1856		0707	1910
2	0653	1856		0708	1911
3	0654	1856		0708	1911
4	0654	1857		0709	1911
5	0654	1857		0709	1912
6	0655	1858		0709	1912
7	0655	1858		0710	1913
8	0656	1858		0710	1913
9	0656	1859		0711	1914
10	0657	1859		0711	1914
11	0657	1900		0712	1915
12	0657	1900		0712	1915
13	0658	1901		0712	1915
14	0658	1901		0713	1916
15	0659	1902		0713	1916
16	0659	1902		0713	1916
17	0700	1903		0714	1917
18	0700	1903		0714	1917
19	0701	1904		0714	1917
20	0701	1904		0715	1918
21	0702	1905		0715	1918
22	0702	1905		0715	1918
23	0703	1906		0715	1919
24	0703	1906		0716	1919
25	0704	1907		0716	1919
26	0704	1907		0716	1919
27	0705	1908		0716	1920
28	0705	1908		0716	1920
29	0706	1909		0716	1920
30	0706	1909		0717	1920
31	0707	1910		0717	1920

- wong chee tat :)