An America-Wide Solar Eclipse

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Similar frogs are the West Coast's pacific tree frog, the Southwest's color-changing canyon tree frog, and the South's green tree frog, squirrel tree frog, pine tree frog, and whistling tree frog. But almost the entire eastern half of the country is home to the common tree frog and the spring peeper.

Spring peepers are very small (about 3/4 to 1 1/2" long) and distinguished from other frogs by the roughly X-shaped dark markings on their backs. These tiny creatures use pads on fingers and toes to cling to branches.

Actually, spring peepers begin their song before April and May. They are noted as one of the first voices and harbingers of spring. They can endure considerable cold. A few hours before dawn on April 20, 1983, here in southern New Jersey, I was out in a rare late snow—an inch or more was on the ground—when I heard the strong song of spring peepers. The temperature was 31° F.

Lunar Eclipse Timetable

(in Eastern Daylight Time)

For Partial Lunar Eclipse of May 24-25

10 P.M. EDT (May 24): First traces of penumbral shading visible around now?
10:37 P.M. EDT: Umbra first touches moon (before sunset and moonrise on West Coast).
11:30 P.M. EDT: Mideclipse.
12:23 A.M. EDT (May 25): Umbra last touches moon.
1 A.m. EDT: Last trace of penumbral shading visible around now?

Time of Maximum Eclipse for Annular Solar Eclipse of May 10

The time of maximum eclipse ranges from about 9 A.M. PDT for California to almost 2 P.M. EDT for Maine. Check May issue of Sky & Telescope magazine for more information. Or, if you have a very serious interest, request a booklet of full data about the eclipse from: Jay Anderson, Prairie Weather Centre, 900-266 Graham Ave,, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3C 3V4.

Some of the cities the eclipse will appear annular from (the Sun covering up to 93% of the sun's diameter): El Paso, Amarillo, St. Louis, Springfield (Illinois), Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo, Toronto. The cities of Kansas City and Chicago are just outside the zone of annular eclipse.

Almanac for April and May 1994

April

1. Good Friday; April Fool's Day.
2. Last Quarter Moon, 9:55 P.M. EST.
3. Faster; Daylight Saving Time begins.
10. New Moon, 8:18 Par. EDT
11. Young Moon—very thin crescent just after sunset, low, just north of due west; Farthest Moon of the year (252,568 miles from Earth).
12. Very close Moon—Venus conjunction around land after) sunset.
13. Thomas Jefferson's birthday (1843).
15. 76 inches of snow fell in Silver Like, Colorado, in 24 hours (1921).
16. Astronomy Day.
18. First Quarter Moon, 10:34 P .M. EDT Sun enters constellation Aries.
19. Lexington-Concord Day (1775).
20. Sun enters astrological sign Taurus; Earth Day.
24. Very close Moon—Spica conjunction this evening.
25. Full Moon (Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon), 3:45 P.M. EDT; Closest Moon of the year (221,785 miles from Earth) just a few hours earlier (so very high tides); Moon-Jupiter conjunction this evening.
29. Arbor Day (except in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Virginia, and Wyoming).
30. May Eve; Jupiter at opposition with the Sun.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print