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INTRODUCTION

August is another month with no (major) Mexican holidays.  But, August is very noteworthy if you look to the sky.  Besides the usual Full Moon: there is a total solar eclipse (not here though) on August 1^st; and on the 11 – 12^th there is the Perseid Meteor Shower; and there is a partial lunar eclipse on the 16th.  “Where are the ISS and HST?”, I hear you ask.
 

THE STAFF SAYS. . . .

With everything going on, and people coming and going, THE Staff of The Akumalian has not had very much ‘down time’, but somehow the August issue is coming out on time.  Besides the August issue, THE Staff has been able to update the Akumal Telephone Book(s), the Photo Galleries for both the “People of Akumal” and “Friends of Akumal”, “Birthdays and Anniversaries”, and the “Video Library”. 

The “Birthdays and Anniversaries” section has been completely revamped with each month having its own page, and as THE Staff was going through this process, there were many omissions conspicuous by their absence.  THE Staff KNOWS there are a lot of omissions, but cannot do anything without the input.  Throughout the process THE Staff kept muttering things like, “Here’s Mrs X. Where’s Mr X?”; “We have the birthdays for both, but not their Anniversary.”; “Why don’t we have the information for the kids?”.

In order for these pages to really work or have any value, it is absolutely imperative that you, as a member of Akumal’s Global Extended Community, diligently review them, especially the Akumal Telephone Book(s) and “Birthdays and Anniversaries”, to ensure your pertinent information is there and correct.  You might want to do the same for the Photo Galleries.

As for the Photo Galleries, the “People of Akumal” has gotten to be quite long and extensive, and it, unfortunately, can take a long time to download, depending on your Internet connection.

Take the time to look at these updated pages and let THE Staff know about any errors and/or omissions.

Subscribe Me List
    Speaking of errors and omissions, THE Staff has also been working on the Subscribe Me list and found a number of invalid e-mail addresses, for one reason or another.  We say “invalid”, because basically a “not found” message is returned.  Without going into any detail, let it be known that the following address have been deleted from the Subscribe Me list:

stanley@jhu.edu
srkarlin@yahoo.com
johnboymt@centurytel.ney
roswald2826@comcast.net
dozos2_@yahoo.com
MARCO_45@YAHOO.COM
beata@gmail.com
shelley@akumal-villas.com
rubinavawter@sbcglobal.net
lianlessard@tulum.com
Kelly@akumal-villas.com
Scott@beachtrash.com
hdxTorkelton7871@cape-mail.com
fishcamp@gulftel.com
edxmd@kc.rr.com
charpowell@pocketmail.com
 
Scott Brown’s beachtrash address is there, as are the addresses for Shelley and Kelly at Akumal Villas.  If you have any new and/or valid addresses for anybody in the above list, please contact them and have them re-subscribe.
 

IMPORTANT AUGUST FACTS

August was named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B.C..

 Leo - July 23 -August 21
Virgo – August 24 – September 23

August Birthstone:  Peridot
In 1912 the American National Association of Jewelers named the Peridot (pronounced pair i dot or pair i doe) as the August birthstone.  It is also given as the 16th anniversary gem.

A beautiful green to yellow-green in color, the Peridot is often mistake for an emerald.  In fact, legend has it that Queen Cleopatra preferred Peridot over other gems and that some of her "Emeralds" may have been Peridot.  Emeralds, though, don't have the yellow tint and tend to be a darker green.

 August Flower:  Gladiolus
The gladiolus flower is the birth flower for August.  The name "Gladiolus" is derived from the Latin word "gladius", meaning "sword", for the shape of its leaves.  An ancient name for the gladiolus was "xiphium," from the Greek word "xiphos", also meaning sword. 
 

DID YOU KNOW?

After Julius Ceasar's grandnephew Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and became emperor of Rome, the Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him.  The month Sextillus (sex = six) was chosen for Augustus, and the senate justified its actions in the following resolution:

Whereas the Emperor Augustus Caesar, in the month of Sextillis . . . thrice entered the city in triumph . . . and in the same month Egypt was brought under the authority of the Roman people, and in the same month an end was put to the civil wars; and whereas for these reasons the said month is, and has been, most fortunate to this empire, it is hereby decreed by the senate that the said month shall be called Augustus.

Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius's month, July, had 31 days, Augustus's month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February), which made August 30 days long.  So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.

To accommodate this change two other calendrical adjustments were necessary:

The extra day needed to inflate the importance of August was taken from February, which originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), and was now reduced to 28 days (29 in a leap year).

Since the months evenly alternated between 30 and 31 days, adding the extra day to August meant that July, August, and September would all have 31 days.  So, to avoid three long months in a row, the lengths of the last four months were switched around, giving us 30 days in September, April, June, and November.

Among Roman rulers, only Julius and Augustus permanently had months named after them—though this wasn't for lack of trying on the part of later emperors.  For a time, May was changed to Claudius and the infamous Nero instituted Neronius for April.  But these changes were ephemeral, and only Julius and Augustus have had two-millenia-worth of staying power.
 

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

Using the new format and pages for Birthdays and Anniversaries, you can now see these in another format at August Birthday and Anniversaries.

August Birthdays and Anniversaries
2          Peter Titze
4          Bob Mather
7          Lucy Gallagher
8          Steve Wandler
8          Shari Jackson
8          Fermina
9          Ryan Wolfe
14        Alice Blatner
15        Kurt and Jonathan Bliss
15        Mari Sanchez
16        Sibylle Gonzalez
18        Pete & Lois Raap Anniversary
18        Oveta Vardell
23        Jana Simpson
24        Dave & Michelle Bliss Anniversary

 There must be more than this.  Let's hear about YOUR birthday before it happens.

 Missed July Birthdays

July 26, RC Castro
Other than RC, got all the reported ones, but we do know of at least one that has not been "officially" reported.
 

FOREIGN PLATED VEHICLES

We have always gone under the assumption that our foreign-plated vehicle was legal and valid in Mexico as long as the FM2/3 was in force and valid, and we went on this assumption based on input from a good source.  Now, we are wondering about this assumption, and this started when we imported the Toyota RAV4 in January; at the border the woman at BANJERCITO told us there was no status for  "FM3" on the importation papers.  At that time Ingrid’s FM3 was in the renewal process, and she did not have a physical FM3, but she did have a paper from IMIGRACION.

Anyway, because of other "things', we elected to have the importation paperwork renewed, now that Ingrid has a physical FM3.  We went to Puerto Juarez, where there is a building housing a BANJERCITO and other official representatives.

According to the young man at BANJERCITO, there is no FM3 "status" for importing a car, even for people who do have an FM3.  The different categories are Charter, Diplomat, Paison, Tourista, and Transimigracion, and he showed me these options on the computer.  In Ingrid's FM3, she is NO IMMIGRANTE VISITANTE RENTISTA, and so on the actual IMPORTACION paper/sticker it is marked as NO IMMIGRANTE and the CALIDAD MIGRATORIA is TURISTA, not FM3.

I told him about what Luis Lobo have said, and I showed him what Luis sent me years ago on ARTICULO 106 DE LA LEY ADUANERA 1999-2000 with SECCION IV with only part a).  He read this very carefully and said there is nothing in there (at least what I have) about a valid FM3 making the vehicle legal/valid even when the date on the importation sticker has expired.  He was not aware of anything like this.

As a result, he says we should come back every year after Ingrid has her FM3 renewed.  The sticker's expiration date is the same as the FM3.

If you are interested in also doing this, it is quite easy, and maybe better "to be safe than sorry".  As you get into Cancun, swing down onto Av. Bonampak and follow that all the way out to Lopez Portillo.  Turn right and follow the divided road to Puerto Juarez and the ferry terminals for Isla Mujeres.  Go past the ferry terminals and stay on the road until the road divider ends.  The building for BANJERCITO is CENTRO INTEGRAL DE SERVICIOS (CIS) on the left hand side of the road, shortly after the divided road ends, and it’s just before (basically beside) the Capitana de Puerto.
 
As it turns out, Luis Lobo still says the foreign plated vehicle is legal as long as the owner’s FM3/2 is legal, and he delivered a 3-page copy of the Articulo 106 – LEY ADUANERA and pointed out the appropriate paragraphs; see http://info4.juridicas.unam.mx/ijure/fed/11/122.htm?s= - . 
 

ROBIN’S BEST SHIRT AWARD, AUGUST 1st

Come one, come all, to the Beach Bar, where we’ll have a ball.

It’s time for another "Best Shirt Award", which is held on the first Friday of each month during Happy Hour at the Lol Ha Beach Bar.  

This award is based on Robin’s penchant for good, classy Beach Bar shirts, and his sister, Mary, has an alternative to be the judge and jury to select the "Best Shirt" for August.  And, as we go to print the criteria are still somewhat nebulous, and they seem to be changing as we move into the summer months.

The July competition was on Friday, July 4^th.  The winner was SteveC, and many felt he had an unfair advantage with his patriotic shirt.  See July Best Shirt for more photos.

This August "Event" is building itself into one of the all-time-great ones as the competition is coming from far (Qatar) and wide (a dog), to say nothing of a number of well shirted females and a set of twins, as they all try to keep SteveC from being the first 3-time winner.  If you cannot come as a competitor, you have to be there to see this very wide range of competitors. And, Mary will not be there to personally head up the judging committee, so the alternative judges could throw a surprise into this month's "Event".

DO NOT MISS THIS!
And now, there is a slide presentation of all the previous winners of the "Robin's Best Shirt Award" at All Best Shirt Winners.
 

TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES

On July 20^th, we had our first Tropical Storm of the season, Dolly, and this prompted THE Staff to clarify some of the terminology we see and hear on The Weather Channel and our favorite weather web sites.

 Tropical Waves are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms.  West-moving waves can also form from the tail end of frontal zones in the subtropics and tropics and may be referred to as easterly waves, but these waves are not properly called tropical waves; they are a form of inverted trough sharing many characteristics with fully tropical waves.  All tropical waves form in the easterly flow along the southern side of the subtropical ridge or belt of high pressure which lies north and south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).  Tropical waves are generally carried westward by the prevailing easterly winds along the tropics and subtropics near the equator.  They can lead to the formation of tropical cyclones in the north Atlantic.

 A Tropical Depression is an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined, closed surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of less than 17 meters per second or 39 miles per hour (63 km/h).  It has no eye and does not typically have the organization or the spiral shape of more powerful storms.  However, it is already a low-pressure system, hence the name "depression".

 A Tropical Storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds between 17 meters per second (39 miles per hour (63 km/h)) and 32 meters per second (62 kn) (73 miles per hour (117 km/h)).  At this point, the distinctive cyclonic shape starts to develop, although an eye is not usually present. Government weather services, first assign names to systems that reach this intensity (thus the term named storm).

 A Hurricane is a system with sustained winds of at least 33 meters per second or 74 miles per hour (119 km/h).  A cyclone of this intensity tends to develop an eye, an area of relative calm (and lowest atmospheric pressure) at the center of circulation.  The eye is often visible in satellite images as a small, circular, cloud-free spot.  Surrounding the eye is the eye-wall, an area about 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) to 80 kilometers (50 mi) wide in which the strongest thunderstorms and winds circulate around the storm's center.  Maximum sustained winds in the strongest tropical cyclones have been estimated at about 85 meters per second or 195 miles per hour (314 km/h).

 ·        Tropical Storm Watch - Tropical storm conditions with sustained winds from 39 to 73 mph are possible in your area within the next 36 hours.

 ·        Tropical Storm Warning - Tropical storm conditions are expected in your area within the next 24 hours.

 ·        Hurricane Watch - Hurricane conditions (sustained winds greater than 73 mph) are possible in your area within 36 hours.

 ·        Hurricane Warning - Hurricane conditions are expected in your area in 24 hours or less.

 So, regardless of it being as Tropical Storm or a Hurricane, a "Warning" is worse than a "Watch".  And, most of us living in Akumal need to be also aware of the following:

 ·        Coastal Flood Watch - The possibility exists for the inundation of land areas along the coast within the next 12 to 36 hours.

 ·        Coastal Flood Warning - Land areas along the coast are expected to become, or have become, inundated by sea water above the typical tide action.
 

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, AUGUST 1st

On Friday, August 1, 2008 a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from a narrow corridor that traverses half the Earth.  The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow begins in Canada and extends across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and China where it will end at sunset.  A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes northeastern North America, and most of Europe and Asia.
 

COMINGS AND GOINGS

          Many visitors were here early in July for the July 4^th vacation week and Best Shirt Award event, and the pace continues as we head into August.

Comings:

• Michael & Lunda Schwartz and kids are back in South Akumal.
• Oveta Vardell was also back in South Akumal, and she had Gera her friends here too.
• Macon & Susan Gravlee were once again visiting South Akumal.
• Terry & Lisa Turner were here too.
• Larry & Shari Jackson were back in Seven Seas in South Akumal for a short visit.
• Bill and Cheryl McClendon arrived back in town on July 22.
• Dave, Michelle, Kurt and Jonathan Bliss are here too.
• Didier Jackson is reported to be in town as well.
• Kathy Sonheim Farrell is in town with her daughter, Katherine, and grandson, Daniel.
• Jim Farrell returns in early August.
• Bob & Laureta Flynn are back in Puerto Aventuras.
• Dave & Nancy Poor are back down on the Lagoon.
• Frank Hatch and Lennie Maietta are back in Casa del Sol.
• Jon & Paige Wright were in town visiting friends.
• Barbara Miller arrives on 8/7, and her two daughters, Lindsay and Annie, come on 8/10.
• Kazue and Beniko Schober return to Akumal sometime in August.
  David Richards  will also be returning in early August.
  Eileen Walsh just returned to Quinta del Mar on the Lagoon

 Goings:

·        Isabel Schober went back to Colorado for a short visit.

·        Claudia Munoz has left Akumal to live in Texas for a year.

·        Hurley Hackler was back in Barcelona for another quick visit.

·        Mary Henderson and Linda Tate have gone to San Cristobal de las Casas for a week.

WHAT'S NEW AROUND TOWN?

AKUMAL
New Real Estate Office
There is a second Real Estate office (Moreno Realty Associates), on the right hand side, just before Super Chomak and the entrance to Central Akumal.  It's right across the street from Akumal Real Estate, in the old Fidecaribe building.

Where Have All the Garbage Trucks Gone?
At the time of this writing (July 21) there seems to be an "issue" with garbage collection, and as a result, South Akumal has not had a collection for about one week now.  However, it does look like garbage is being collected in North Akumal.

The latest thing is that Tulum "wants us to confirm that we have paid our municipal fees for the (garbage) service".

Has any homeowner in Akumal ever paid an extra fee for garbage collection by the Solidaridad Municipality??

Electricity Keeps Getting More Expensive
The latest CFE bills are out, and the basic rate is 2.173 pesos per kWh, but after 10% IVA and 5% DAP it is something like 3.38 pesos per kWh, and this is the highest rate ever seen at Casa Colibri.  Admittedly, we are getting a constant 128-131 volts instead of 120, so it can't be all bad, right.

Another recent observation is that there has not been a progressive rate since February 2005.  In the previous billing cycle, the rate was $2.027/kWh for the first 1.000 kWh, and then after that it was $2.559/kWh, and for Casa Colibri the average rate was then $2.65/kWh, after the taxes.

Akumal Alcoholics Anonymous
Maggie McKown reports, “Hekab Be Biblioteca is now housing the local Alcoholics Anonymous  (AA) Group.  Meetings are held Monday thru Saturday from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.  All are welcome!  Spanish and English are spoken at all meetings except on Thursday, when the lead English speaker is not available.  Maggie is proud to have them back and hopes that those in need within our community, as well as those just visiting, will join this local group for support on their road to recovery." 
 

Hekab Be Biblioteca Summer School
Maggie McKown reports, “The Hekab Be Biblioteca Summer School is now in progress, and over 60 children are participating.  This year we are working in collaboration with CEA through the hard work of Mirna Gonzalez Noh (Educational programming for CEA) and her talented volunteers, Louisa, Leo, Luis, Kyla, and Rene.  Their assistance compliments the staff of the library in educating our local children in specific subjects they do not receive from the Public School system. These areas are predominantly the Arts (theater, drawing and music), Natural Sciences and Ecology (as it pertains to our region), English, and Mayan and Maya Culture.

 “Also working with the library this summer is the extremely talented Rey Ortega, who is teaching the children theater and music several times a week.  The result of those efforts will culminate in our Summer School Finale - a Circus!  The Circus will be held at CEA center at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday August the 7th.  All are invited!”
 

 New Library in the Telesecundaria
Leticia Córdova Lira reports, “The new Library in the Telesecundaria in Akumal was presented to the people of Continuing Education and Fomento A La Lectura a couple of weeks ago with great enthusiasm of everybody: Teachers, students, educational institutions and parents.  Paul Sanchez Navarro, Laura Bush, Diane Mahan, Lydia Pontius, and Diego Peralta have been great supporters on this effort. 

“JM Muebles gave us credit for the furniture, and we still owe that.  But we know it is a very noble project and with your help we will keep receiving support for this, and many other things we want to do to raise the quality of education and life in general, in our community.  All this goes towards preventing insecurity.

“The library Biblioteca Frida Kahlo is opened in the afternoon from 5 to 9pm being of great service for the rest of the community, as well as the high school students.”

Lol Ha Topes
Please be advised that there are THREE (3) speed bumps, a ka’ topes, on the access road to Lol Ha.  The first one is right there by MexiArte; the second is just before the curve to the right; and the third is just near the entrance to Lamanai by the Kids Club.  They definitely slow down traffic, but they do not do anything to keep the tourists out of the middle of the road. 

Happy Birthday Paula
On July 26th, Paula Humphreys, from Qatar, celebrated her 50th birthday here in Akumal.  See more at Paula's 50th.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN
Topes
Speaking of topes, there reportedly is yet another one on MX307 as you enter Playa del Carmen from the north.  It’s just before the large round-about with the coin on the hill, and it reportedly backs traffic up for a mile or so, depending on the day and time of day.  Enjoy….

SUMMER SCHOOL FINALE – A CIRCUS, AUGUST 7

The children (more than 60) attending the Hekab Be Biblioteca Summer School are learning theater and music several times a week from the extremely talented Rey Ortega.  The result of these efforts will culminate in the Summer School Finale - a Circus!  The Circus will be held at CEA center at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, August the 7th.  All are invited!”
 

BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES, AUGUST 8 - 24

            The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, are an international multi-sport event that will be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, and followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from September 6 to September 17.  10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, with around 20,000 accredited media bringing the Games to the world.

The Olympic Games were awarded to Beijing after an exhaustive ballot of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13, 2001.  The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylized calligraphic character jīng (京, meaning capital), referencing the host city.  The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a color of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture.  The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit.

The Chinese government has promoted the games to highlight China's emergence on the world stage.  A total of 37 venues will be used to host the events, including 12 newly constructed venues.

XII MIND SPORTS OLYMPIAD, AUGUST 15 - 25

Royal Horticultural Halls Conference Centre, Greycoat Street, LondonSW1P 2QD

 There has been an explosive growth of physical sports in the first half of the decade.  Now, with increased leisure time and more people working from home, MIND SPORTS will be the great growth area of the 21st century.  And above all, the Mind Sports Olympiad is great fun for the players and spectators.  MSO is a ten day festival of face-to-face board games and mental skills, which has been described as the single greatest concentration of intellectual ability in one building anywhere in the world. 
 

PERSEID METOR SHOWER, AUGUST 11 & 12

The legendary Perseid meteor shower will peak between August 11 & 13.  It’s expected to display the greatest number of meteors Tuesday morning around 6:30am AST, but you’ll see some Perseids the other days too.

The Perseids are probably the most-watched annual meteor shower.  The shower has a very long duration, from about July 15 through August 25.  The shower is most interesting around its peak on August 12 or 13.  This year, the peak comes on August 12 because of the leap year.  The radiant is above the horizon the entire night for observers north of latitude 32N, but it is fairly low at the end of evening twilight.  Evening Perseid rates are fairly low, and the bright Moon makes things worse this year.  The real meat of the show comes during the predawn hours when the Moon is down and the radiant is high.

Predawn rates for observers with truly dark skies may exceed 100 Perseids per hour (West Coast of North America and/or Eastern Asia may be favored this year), with a nice sprinkling of sporadic and minor shower meteors added to the mix.  Adjacent mornings from August 10 through August 13 are well worth watching, although rates will be significantly lower.

Perseids are fast meteors and tend to be fairly bright on average.  An occasional fireball is seen.

You don’t need to identify Perseus to enjoy the meteor shower.  The Perseids are a especially rich and dependable meteor shower.  They shoot all across the sky – often leaving persistent trains – and occasionally lighting things up with bright fireballs.  To watch the show, find a dark, open sky.  Get away from city lights, up on the roof, and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adapt to the dark.  The Perseid shower favors northern hemisphere skywatchers.   
 

METEOR SHOWERS VERSUS SHOOTING STARS

What are meteor showers?

An increase in the number of meteors at a particular time of year is called a meteor shower.

Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers.  As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower.  Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation.

Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall, a spot in the sky astronomers call the radiant.  For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo.  The Perseid meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus.

 What are shooting stars?

"Shooting stars" and "falling stars" are both names that people have used for many hundreds of years to describe meteors -- intense streaks of light across the night sky caused by small bits of interplanetary rock and debris called meteoroids crashing and burning high in Earth's upper atmosphere.  Traveling at thousands of miles an hour, meteoroids quickly ignite in searing friction of the atmosphere, 30 to 80 miles above the ground.  Almost all are destroyed in this process; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites.

When a meteor appears, it seems to "shoot" quickly across the sky, and its small size and intense brightness might make you think it is a star.  If you're lucky enough to spot a meteorite (a meteor that makes it all the way to the ground), and see where it hits, it's easy to think you just saw a star "fall."
 

FULL MOON, AUGUST 16th

The Full Sturgeon Moon is on August 16^th at 4:16pm AST.

 The fishing Maya tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the great cenotes and other major bodies of water in the Yucatan, were most readily caught during this month.  A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze.  It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
 

PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE, AUGUST 16th

Lunar eclipses occur when Earth gets between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow.  The view is different from each location on the planet. 

The last eclipse of 2008 is a partial lunar eclipse at the Moon's ascending node in Capricornus on Saturday, August 16th.  The partial lunar eclipse will be visible over most of Asia, Australasia, Europe, Africa, and South America.  Although only a partial eclipse, this eclipse should be quite significant, as most of the Moon will pass inside the Earth's umbral shadow at maximum eclipse -- the umbral magnitude is 0.812.

The Moon’s trajectory takes it through the northern umbral shadow, resulting in a partial eclipse that lasts 3 hours 8 minutes.  At mid-eclipse the Moon's northern limb passes 5.9 arc-minutes outside the umbra's northern edge.  The Moon's southern edge is then 16.5 arc-minutes from the shadow's centre.

This map shows the position of the Moon (the cross in the centre) at the time of maximum eclipse.  The darkened area sees the whole partial eclipse; the pink areas to the right see only the beginning; and the blue areas on the left see the end.  The moment of maximum eclipse will be visible from the darker pink and blue areas, and the whole of the darkened area.

EVENTS

There was another Akumal "Event" in July besides the "Best Shirt Award", and that was Paula Humphreys' 50th Birthday Party which can be viewed at Paula's 50th..

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