2015-03-20

[public] 139K views, 4.28K likes, 82.0 dislikes audio only

Stand-up Maths

There was a solar eclipse on the 20 March 2015 and so I thought I'd make a quick video of the mathematics behind predicting eclipses. I now regret that decision.

EDIT: I over-simplified the elliptical orbit of the moon but not putting the Earth at one of the foci, which messes with the closest and nearest points at 3:40. Elliptical orbits are not that simple.

NASA pages on the moon's orbit and the Saros cycle:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros.html

Photograph of the total eclipse is copyright Anthony Ayiomamitis and used with his kind permission.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ayiomamitis/4797792174/

The paper on the long-term instabilities of planetary orbits is here:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7248/full/nature08096.html

Fred Espenak is the eclipse dude:

http://www.mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html

Music by Howard Carter

Design by Simon Wright

MATT PARKER: Stand-up Mathematician

Website: http://standupmaths.com/

New book: http://makeanddo4D.com/

Nerdy maths toys: http://mathsgear.co.uk/