 PLOT: Watching the onset of the eclipse should give an indication as  to its duration. The relative position and movement of the stars and  planets as depicted would indeed result in an eclipse whose length  were hours at most, as Johns claimed. This is in spite of the fact  that the planets are orbiting in the same direction, as Imam  mentions. If this were not the case, the onset of the eclipse from  the time the ringed planet first became visible on the horizon would  have taken significantly longer, giving sufficient time for a return  to the skiff.