What do they mean when you can see planets during a total solar eclipse?

Question

There is a total eclipse coming up in August for parts of Russia and China, there are other places as well but I don't know where. I was reading an article about how there will be four planets visible during the eclipse. What I want to know is, does the eclipse magnify these planets so you can view them with the naked eye or does it just expose the area of the planet in darkness long enough that you could view them through a telescope?

Answer 1

These planets are bright enough and the solar eclipse makes the sky dark enough that they can be seen.  The eclipse doesn't magnify the planets.  It is just a matter of what is showing brighter, the sky or the planets.

Answer 2

since an eclipse happens during daylight, if the totality is complete, the sky will not be polluted with all of  earth's artificial lights, so you'd be looking out on a dark sky and the nearer planets and some bright stars would become visible during that dark time..............

Answer 3

During totality, the sky becomes black, just as it does at night, and you can see the planets, just as you can at night.

Mercury is always fairly close to the Sun, and so can only be seen sometimes during twilight at sunrise or sunset.  During an eclipse, Mercury is easily visible as a bright starlike point.

Answer 4

The four planets which will be visible during the solar eclipse on August 1 are Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Mars. These four planets are always visible to the naked eye in a dark sky, so their visibility has absolutely nothing to do with the eclipse. All that happens during the eclipse is that the shadow of the Moon darkens the sky so that the normal scattered blue light is missing, and the planets are thus visible during the day. In fact, with a telescope pointed at exactly the right spot, all of these planets are also visible anywhere any time in a blue sky. Certainly, I've observed both Mercury and Venus many times in daylight with telescopes. All the eclipse does is to improve the contrast by darkening the sky.

[Edit] Tina is right on when she describes the sky during an eclipse as a weird sort of twilight. Unlike what a couple of others said, the sky does NOT become totally dark during an eclipse. The sky is still light near the horizon, and even close to the Sun it is a deep twilight blue, not black. It's obvious that Tina and I are the only answerers who have actually _seen_ a total eclipse, albeit on opposite sides of the Mediterranean in 2006 (I was in Libya, Tina was in Turkey). That was a great eclipse, wasn't it, Tina?

Answer 5

The planets are always visible to the naked eye (as long as you know where to look), depending on their position in the sky relative to the sun.  As long as they are "risen" above the horizon when the sun is sufficiently below the horizon, they are visible because the scattered light in the atmosphere from the sun no longer obscures the reflected planetular light.

In the case of an eclipse, the amount of light from the sun reaching the Earth may be sufficiently small so as to not obscure the reflected light from planets that are risen concurrently with the sun.  (The planet is visible because the light from the sun is blocked)  You may still need to use a telescope, depending on the severity of the eclipse.

The best way to see a planet is to wait for a time of year when it and the sun are out at different times, so at night you can go look into space and see that planet you wish to see.  It will still be hard to see in good detail without a telescope.

Go here to know what will be visible when: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sky_cale...

Enjoy!

Answer 6

Normally 5planets are with in the naked eye limit. You can see them with out optical aid.

During day time,due to suns brightness they are not visible.

During total eclipse,it become dark enough to make them viible.

Answer 7

The eclipse actually reduces the light pollution from the Sun to the Earth allowing us to see the brightest objects in the sky such as Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. When the eclipse is over they will fade into the wild blue sky!

Answer 8

It does expose the area of the planet in darkness increasing the contrast. mercury which is elusive can be readily seen.

Answer 9

a total eclipse makes a weird sort of twilight, and you can see bright stars and planets. it's really cool.