Are there solar eclipses in ksp?

[Jeb federation]

I don't know if this question has been asked before or if this is the right place to put it, but does the mun ever eclipse Kerbol and if it does were on Kerbin can you see it?

[Natokerbal]

It does happen but you have to be in the right spot and without scatterer it's barley noticable

[qzgy]

Yeah. Sometimes you can see it from the space center, cause of the 0 inclination things. Not actually too interesting after a while, and there aren't many effects,

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

It happens fairly often, since unlike the Moon the Mun orbits in pretty much exactly the same plane as Kerbin does around the Sun. You won't see any reduction in the amount of light you get due to the way the KSP lighting system works, but you can clearly see the Mun pass in front of the Sun and your solar panels will stop working for a few minutes when it happens.

[Jeb federation]

Cool thanks for the replies. 

[Ten Key]

[something]

Yes there are eclipses, but the stock visual effects are basically non-present. The Mun has been stated above. Additionally Ike covers the Sun as seen from Duna and so do Laythe, Vall and Tylo with Jool. Not sure if Gilly creates some eclipses - never checked/calculated.

With scatterer and EVE installed the visual effects are quite nice (it gets dark) and you xan see the shadows on the planetary surfaces.

[The Aziz]

1 hour ago, something said:

Not sure if Gilly creates some eclipses - never checked/calculated.

Gilly could more likely make a transit, rather than the eclipse.

 

1 hour ago, something said:

With scatterer and EVE installed the visual effects are quite nice (it gets dark) and you xan see the shadows on the planetary surfaces.

Yet the vessels are still bright and shiny, but I guess it's how the light works in the game.

[maja]

There is also Kerbin eclipse if you are on or around the Mun. This is realy spectacular too, watching the Kerbin's shadow to cover the Mun.

[KerikBalm]

Very very often at the equator thanks to zero inclination.

In stock, solar panels will stop working, but everything looks well illuminated, its not until you look for the sun that you see that its blocked.

Scatterer improves the look:

and casts a black texture on bodies for the shadow

[The Aziz]

1 hour ago, maja said:

There is also Kerbin eclipse if you are on or around the Mun. This is realy spectacular too, watching the Kerbin's shadow to cover the Mun.

And run out of power right before important burn because the eclipse takes few orbits around the Mun.

Aside from that, it's great.

[maja]

39 minutes ago, The Aziz said:

And run out of power right before important burn because the eclipse takes few orbits around the Mun.

Aside from that, it's great.

Happened to me too

[NSEP]

I had this before. I once attempted a Mun landing but the sun was blocked by Kerbin, so i crashed.

[Jeb federation]

So I guess the next question is if there are munar eclipses?

@The Aziz Does scatterer affect game speed?

Edited August 26, 2017 by Jeb federation

[NISSKEPCSIM]

I'm fairly sure eclipses happen every Kerbal day, because of the 0° thing.

[mk1980]

mun eclipses happen about as frequently as sun eclipses. same idea basically, but for a mun eclipse, kerbin is between the mun and the sun and for a sun eclipse, the mun is between kerbin and the sun,

both happen once per mun "month". i think a mun orbit is about 38 (or so) hours / ~6.5 kerbin days

[Curveball Anders]

15 minutes ago, mk1980 said:

mun eclipses happen about as frequently as sun eclipses. same idea basically, but for a mun eclipse, kerbin is between the mun and the sun and for a sun eclipse, the mun is between kerbin and the sun,

both happen once per mun "month". i think a mun orbit is about 38 (or so) hours / ~6.5 kerbin days

Once every 138 984s or 6d 2h 36m 24s (since that's Mün's orbital period).

 

[ThreePounds]

43 minutes ago, Curveball Anders said:

Once every 138 984s or 6d 2h 36m 24s (since that's Mün's orbital period).

 

That's not quite correct. The number you've quoted is the sidereal period. You'll need to synodic period though which happens to be 141115.4s or 6d 3h 11m 55.4s.

[Curveball Anders]

Just now, Three_Pounds said:

That's not quite correct. The number you've quoted is the sidereal period. You'll need to synodic period though which happens to be 141115.4s or 6d 3h 11m 55.4s.

I stand corrected.

[MythicalHeFF]

This is probably the 30th eclipse thread I've seen...

Yes, they do happen frequently because the MÜN has no orbital inclination or eccentricity. 

One thing I was lucky to catch however, was Minmus, not the Mun, eclipsing Kerbin. Only seen that once, may never see it again because I got rid of Scatterer for 1.3 because I couldn't get rid of those annoying halos around the atmospheric worlds.

[septemberWaves]

6 hours ago, The Aziz said:

And run out of power right before important burn because the eclipse takes few orbits around the Mun.

This is what batteries are for. It's somewhat surprising how few people use enough of them. Or alternatively, fuel cells are a great method of generating power on Mun missions and can sometimes be lower mass than solar panels (they consume such little fuel over the short period of time that a Mun mission takes that generally they'll just take a few units out of your excess fuel margin that wouldn't've been used anyway).

[luizopiloto]

they occur every month... not a very uncommon event...

 

[Ty Tan Tu]

Which reminds me, I have been wondering what a Kerbal calendar might look like. None of the ratios between the Kerbin year, Mun period and Minimus period make a calendar obvious to me. Maybe a 9 month year based on a 450 day year and 50 day Minimus period with an extra  short variable month tacked on know as the "Festival of Snacking"?

I suppose the ruins at the "Temple in the Desert" might add a hint. We have two large temples and four small ones in a very precise configuration. Is it an ancient astronomical observation center?

I guess I will have to think a bit more about my Kerbal archaeology...

[Alshain]

9 hours ago, KerikBalm said:

Very very often at the equator thanks to zero inclination.

In stock, solar panels will stop working, but everything looks well illuminated, its not until you look for the sun that you see that its blocked.

Scatterer improves the look:

and casts a black texture on bodies for the shadow

I think EVE is doing that.  I see that and I don't use Scatterer.

 

[razark]

35 minutes ago, Ty Tan Tu said:

Which reminds me, I have been wondering what a Kerbal calendar might look like.

Would Kerbals even have a year?  Since there are no seasons, the concept of a yearly cycle may not even occur to them.

Of course, watching the stars would show them a repeating, yearly cycle, but without other changes, why bother to pay attention to it?