



An Olive Moon and Grenadine Sun Toast Astronomy

Other than trying to be delicious, the goal of this 1930s drink is to simulate a total solar eclipse in your glass when viewed from above.* Thus the reason for the different densities. The olive / moon temporarily blocks the grenadine / sun leaving enough space around the edges to create that famous irregularly shaped glow of the corona which is only visible during this specific celestial event.

A shot glass was used for the image above so that when you’re overhead looking down the grenadine mimicking the sun’s corona when blocked by the black olive acting as the moon would be relatively proportional to reality. As opposed to using a larger drinking glass that is. Also, the cocktail was backlit in the photo from below to simulate the shining sun for a more dramatic effect.

WARNING! Looking directly at the sun is not safe. Please be sure to follow these safety guidelines when trying to view or photograph an actual eclipse.

Behind The Bar - How To Make An Eclipse Cocktail At Home

Eclipse Drink Recipe:

⅓ dry gin

⅔ sloe gin

1 ripe olive

grenadine

Place a black olive in the bottom of a cocktail glass and add enough grenadine to cover. The density of the pomegranate syrup will cause the ripe olive to rise up and float on top. Next, mix the two spirits together and use a bar spoon to pour gently, directly on top of the black olive, to form a separate layer like you would in a pousse-café. Finish by squeezing an orange peel on top.

Note: you could substitute damson gin or plum brandy for the sloe gin if unavailable.

‘E takes a couple - then eclipse 'er! ~ Cockney expression†

So, does this drink look like a total solar eclipse in a glass? Let’s see.





What Is A Solar Eclipse Anyway?

As you can see from the animation above, a solar eclipse is when the moon’s orbit around the earth places the moon in between the sun and the earth. On the other hand, a lunar eclipse is when the earth is in between the sun and the moon.

Both of these celestial events happen frequently all over the world, particularly partial eclipses where the sun is not completely blocked. Total eclipses are much rarer and can only be viewed from specific locations.





When Is The Next Total Solar Eclipse?

Well, as of this writing, the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States in 99 years will happen on August 21, 2017. It will stretch across an approximately 70 mile wide path through the states of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina starting on the west coast around 10:15 a.m. PDT and ending on the east coast around 2:45 p.m. EDT.‡

One of the first glimpses of the moon’s shadow will be atop Round Butte near Madras, Oregon. You’ll definitely want to forsake your town’s namesake drink and toast this extraordinary celestial event with an Eclipse cocktail instead.





Want An Even More Accurate Map Of Where You Can See The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse?

Here’s NASA’s simulation above along with the video transcript below:

What were talking about is several visualizations of the path of the moon’s shadow during the eclipse in 2017. Everything in it is driven by the data, so the color of the ground, the position of the path of totality, the lighting from the sun, the sun angle, all of those are things that are based on data.

A lot of NASA products were used to create this visualization. I used the lunar reconnaissance orbiter. The laser altimeter data from that gives us a digital map of the elevations on the moon. For the earth I used something called SRTM. This was a radar that was flown on the space shuttle.

For the positions of the earth, moon and sun, I used a JPL ephemeris and an ephemeris is just a list of positions, but its the most accurate calculation of those positions. This visualization is unique because it shows the effect of both the irregular edge of the moon, the limb of the moon we call it, and the elevation of the observer.

Now we’ve known for a long time that the elevation of the observer effects where the shadow is and we’ve also known that the mountains and the valleys along the edge of the moon effects the shadow. So you may have seen on eclipse maps in the past that the image of the umbra, that shape of the shadow on the earth, is drawn as a smooth oval, but we know that the moon isn’t smooth. Around the edge of the moon, we have these sort of jagged peaks and valleys. A peak will block the sun a little bit earlier than thought and a valley will let the sun in a few seconds longer than thought. But the combined effect of these peaks and valleys is to create a shape that’s not really an oval. Its more like a polygon, but it hasn’t actually been seen in exactly this way before where we calculate those circumstances for every point on the map and draw that shape.

Totality is that two minutes, or two and half minutes when the moon completely covers the sun. The sudden darkness of totality is just something that a lot of people can’t compare to anything else. I love the idea that I’m giving this kind of map to other people and especially that its more detailed and more accurate so that the people are actually in the right places to see it.





Well, Did We Capture The Essunce? [sic]

How do you think the Eclipse cocktail compares to the 1999 total solar eclipse shown above?1

More Drinks With Olives

Everybody’s Irish - Irish whisky, green chartreuse, green mint liqueur and a green olive.

- Irish whisky, green chartreuse, green mint liqueur and a green olive. Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Shamrock - Irish whiskey, French vermouth, green Chartreuse, green crème de menthe and a green olive.

- Irish whiskey, French vermouth, green Chartreuse, green crème de menthe and a green olive. Highland Fling - blended Scotch whisky, Italian vermouth, orange bitters and an olive.

- blended Scotch whisky, Italian vermouth, orange bitters and an olive. Martini - gin and dry vermouth garnished with an olive.

- gin and dry vermouth garnished with an olive. Nineteenth Hole - gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, aromatic bitters and olives.

References