Total Lunar Eclipse Saturday night - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

MonarC · 11-07-2003, 08:12 PM

By Joe Rao
SPACE.COM

Your guide to the total lunar eclipse
Everything you need to know for the weekend’s big event

No enthusiastic sky watcher ever misses a total eclipse of the moon. And the spectacle is often more beautiful and interesting than one would think. During the time that the moon is entering into and later emerging from out of Earth’s shadow, secondary phenomena may be overlooked. To help prepare for Saturday night’s eclipse, here is a chronology, including some of the things you might expect to see.

THE STAGES OF THE ECLIPSE
1. Moon enters penumbra (5:15 p.m. ET): Earth’s shadow cone has two parts: a dark, inner umbra, surrounding by a lighter penumbra. The penumbra is the pale outer portion of the Earth’s shadow.
Although the eclipse begins officially at this moment, this is in essence an academic event. You won’t see anything unusual happening to the moon — at least not just yet. Earth’s penumbral shadow is so faint that it remains invisible until the moon is deeply immersed in it. We must wait until the penumbra has reached roughly 70 percent across the moon’s disk. For about the next hour the full moon will continue to appear to shine normally, although with each passing minute it is progressing ever deeper into Earth’s outer shadow.
2. Penumbral shadow begins to appear (6:14 p.m. ET): Now the moon has progressed far enough into the penumbra so that it should be evident on the moon’s disk. Start looking for a very subtle light shading to appear on the moon’s left portion. This will become increasingly more evident as the minutes pass, the shading appearing to spread and deepen.
Just before the moon begins to enter the Earth’s dark umbral shadow the penumbra should appear as an obvious smudge or tarnishing of the moon’s left portion.

3. Moon enters umbra (6:33 p.m. ET): The moon now begins to cross into Earth’s dark central shadow, called the umbra. A small dark scallop begins to appear on the moon’s left-hand (eastern) limb. The partial phases of the eclipse begin; the pace quickens and the change is dramatic. The umbra is much darker than the penumbra and fairly sharp-edged.
As the minutes pass the dark shadow appears to slowly creep across the moon’s face. At first, the moon’s limb may seem to vanish completely inside of the umbra, but much later, as it moves in deeper, you’ll probably notice it glowing dimly orange, red or brown.
Notice also that the edge of Earth’s shadow projected on the moon is curved. Here is visible evidence that Earth is a sphere, as deduced by Aristotle from lunar eclipses he observed in the 4th century B.C. Almost as if a dimmer switch was slowly being turned down, the surrounding landscape on Earth and deep shadows of a brilliant moonlit night begin to fade away, at least for viewers away from bright lights.
4. 75 percent coverage (7:43 p.m. ET): With three-quarters of the moon’s disk now eclipsed, that part of it that is immersed in shadow should begin to very faintly light up, similar to a piece of iron heated to the point where it just begins to glow.

Click through the highlights of the May 15-16 total lunar eclipse.
It now becomes obvious that the umbral shadow does not involve complete darkness. Using binoculars or a telescope, its outer part is usually light enough to reveal lunar seas and craters, but the central part is much darker, and sometimes no surface features are recognizable. Colors in the umbra vary greatly from one eclipse to the next, Reds and grays usually predominate, but sometimes browns, blues and other tints are encountered.
5. Less than five minutes to totality (8:01 p.m. ET): Several minutes before (and after) totality, the contrast between the remaining pale-yellow sliver and the ruddy-brown coloration spread over the rest of the moon’s disk may produce a beautiful phenomenon known to some as the “Japanese Lantern Effect.”
6. Total eclipse begins (8:06 p.m. ET): When the last of the moon enters the umbra, the total eclipse begins. How the moon will appear during totality is not known. Some eclipses are such a dark gray-black that the moon nearly vanishes from view. At other eclipses it can glow a bright orange.
The reason the moon can be seen at all when totally eclipsed is that sunlight is scattered and refracted around the edge of Earth by our atmosphere. To an astronaut standing on the moon during totality, the sun would be hidden behind a dark Earth outlined by a brilliant red ring consisting of all the world’s sunrises and sunsets.
The brightness of this ring around Earth depends on global weather conditions and the amount of dust suspended in the air. A clear atmosphere on Earth means a bright lunar eclipse. If a major volcanic eruption has injected particles into the stratosphere during the previous couple of years, the eclipse is very dark.
No such eruption has happened since our last total lunar eclipse in May of this year, so the betting is that this eclipse will be bright.

7. Middle of totality (8:19 p.m. ET): The moon is now shining anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times fainter than it was just a couple of hours ago. Since the moon is moving well to the south of the center of Earth’s umbra, the gradation of color and brightness across the moon’s disk should be such that its upper portion should appear darkest, with hues of deep copper or chocolate brown. Meanwhile, its lower portion — that part of the moon closest to the outer edge of the umbra — should appear brightest, with hues of reds, oranges and even perhaps a soft bluish-white.
Observers away from bright city lights will notice a much greater number of stars than were visible before the eclipse began. The moon will be in the constellation of Aries the Ram, with the beautiful little Pleiades star cluster shining 15 degrees to the moon’s east (left). Your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky. The darkness of the sky is impressive for those in the countryside. The surrounding landscape takes on a somber hue. Before the eclipse, the full moon looked flat and one-dimensional. During totality, however, it will look smaller and three-dimensional, like some weirdly illuminated ball suspended in space.
Before the moon entered Earth’s shadow, the temperature on its sunlit surface hovered at 266 degrees Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius). Since the moon lacks an atmosphere, there is no way that this heat can be retained from escaping into space as the shadow sweeps by. Now, in shadow, the temperature on the moon has dropped to minus 146 degrees Fahrenheit (99 degrees below zero Celsius). That’s a drop of 412 degrees Fahrenheit (229 degrees Celsius) in less than 90 minutes!
8. Total eclipse ends (8:31 p.m. ET): The emergence of the moon from the shadow begins. The first small segment of the moon begins to reappear, followed again for the next several minutes by the Japanese Lantern Effect.
9. 75 percent coverage (8:55 p.m. ET ): Any vestiges of coloration within the umbra should be disappearing now. From here on, as the dark shadow methodically creeps off the moon’s disk it should appear black and featureless.
10. Moon leaves umbra (10:05 p.m. ET): The dark central shadow clears the moon’s right hand (western) limb.
11. Penumbra shadow fades away (10:24 p.m. ET): As the last, faint shading vanishes off the Moon’s right portion, the visual show comes to an end.
12. Moon leaves penumbra (11:22 p.m. ET): The eclipse “officially” ends, as it is completely free of the penumbral shadow.

TJL · 11-07-2003, 08:20 PM

Lunar Eclipse Party on my roof!

BYOB.

MonarC · 11-07-2003, 08:31 PM

cool i'll bring a 6 pack of budweiser...

Brent88 · 11-07-2003, 08:36 PM

It's expected to be cloudy here!!!!

MonarC · 11-07-2003, 08:41 PM

yeah clouds plan to ruin the night here too... Damn clouds!

Penny Lane · 11-07-2003, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TJL
Lunar Eclipse Party on my roof!

BYOB.

I'll be there!

TJL · 11-07-2003, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
I'll be there!

Two words:

Bring Tequila!

MonarC · 11-07-2003, 09:23 PM

tequila woohoooo

Stormtracker TF · 11-07-2003, 09:46 PM

Totally Clear and in the 20s for Saturday Night in my Town. So unless i forget i should be able to see it.

Kay Scarpetta · 11-07-2003, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TJL
Two words:

Bring Tequila!

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!

musicradio77 · 11-07-2003, 10:09 PM

I like to see the lunar eclipse tomorrow night as soon as mother nature stays away from these clouds.

MonarC · 11-07-2003, 10:53 PM

yeah i hope there will be a break in the clouds so I can at least see a bit of it...

MonarC · 11-08-2003, 09:02 PM

the moon is out

Penny Lane · 11-08-2003, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TJL
Two words:

Bring Tequila!

Ok Tom, I'm here with some vodka(sorry I haven't any tequila!) Where are you? It's party time!

It is 8:10 PM EST Not much moon left! PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!

Hollow · 11-08-2003, 09:14 PM

the moon's red right now

11-07-2003, 08:12 PM	#1
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	Total Lunar Eclipse Saturday night By Joe Rao SPACE.COM Your guide to the total lunar eclipse Everything you need to know for the weekend’s big event No enthusiastic sky watcher ever misses a total eclipse of the moon. And the spectacle is often more beautiful and interesting than one would think. During the time that the moon is entering into and later emerging from out of Earth’s shadow, secondary phenomena may be overlooked. To help prepare for Saturday night’s eclipse, here is a chronology, including some of the things you might expect to see. THE STAGES OF THE ECLIPSE 1. Moon enters penumbra (5:15 p.m. ET): Earth’s shadow cone has two parts: a dark, inner umbra, surrounding by a lighter penumbra. The penumbra is the pale outer portion of the Earth’s shadow. Although the eclipse begins officially at this moment, this is in essence an academic event. You won’t see anything unusual happening to the moon — at least not just yet. Earth’s penumbral shadow is so faint that it remains invisible until the moon is deeply immersed in it. We must wait until the penumbra has reached roughly 70 percent across the moon’s disk. For about the next hour the full moon will continue to appear to shine normally, although with each passing minute it is progressing ever deeper into Earth’s outer shadow. 2. Penumbral shadow begins to appear (6:14 p.m. ET): Now the moon has progressed far enough into the penumbra so that it should be evident on the moon’s disk. Start looking for a very subtle light shading to appear on the moon’s left portion. This will become increasingly more evident as the minutes pass, the shading appearing to spread and deepen. Just before the moon begins to enter the Earth’s dark umbral shadow the penumbra should appear as an obvious smudge or tarnishing of the moon’s left portion. 3. Moon enters umbra (6:33 p.m. ET): The moon now begins to cross into Earth’s dark central shadow, called the umbra. A small dark scallop begins to appear on the moon’s left-hand (eastern) limb. The partial phases of the eclipse begin; the pace quickens and the change is dramatic. The umbra is much darker than the penumbra and fairly sharp-edged. As the minutes pass the dark shadow appears to slowly creep across the moon’s face. At first, the moon’s limb may seem to vanish completely inside of the umbra, but much later, as it moves in deeper, you’ll probably notice it glowing dimly orange, red or brown. Notice also that the edge of Earth’s shadow projected on the moon is curved. Here is visible evidence that Earth is a sphere, as deduced by Aristotle from lunar eclipses he observed in the 4th century B.C. Almost as if a dimmer switch was slowly being turned down, the surrounding landscape on Earth and deep shadows of a brilliant moonlit night begin to fade away, at least for viewers away from bright lights. 4. 75 percent coverage (7:43 p.m. ET): With three-quarters of the moon’s disk now eclipsed, that part of it that is immersed in shadow should begin to very faintly light up, similar to a piece of iron heated to the point where it just begins to glow. Click through the highlights of the May 15-16 total lunar eclipse. It now becomes obvious that the umbral shadow does not involve complete darkness. Using binoculars or a telescope, its outer part is usually light enough to reveal lunar seas and craters, but the central part is much darker, and sometimes no surface features are recognizable. Colors in the umbra vary greatly from one eclipse to the next, Reds and grays usually predominate, but sometimes browns, blues and other tints are encountered. 5. Less than five minutes to totality (8:01 p.m. ET): Several minutes before (and after) totality, the contrast between the remaining pale-yellow sliver and the ruddy-brown coloration spread over the rest of the moon’s disk may produce a beautiful phenomenon known to some as the “Japanese Lantern Effect.” 6. Total eclipse begins (8:06 p.m. ET): When the last of the moon enters the umbra, the total eclipse begins. How the moon will appear during totality is not known. Some eclipses are such a dark gray-black that the moon nearly vanishes from view. At other eclipses it can glow a bright orange. The reason the moon can be seen at all when totally eclipsed is that sunlight is scattered and refracted around the edge of Earth by our atmosphere. To an astronaut standing on the moon during totality, the sun would be hidden behind a dark Earth outlined by a brilliant red ring consisting of all the world’s sunrises and sunsets. The brightness of this ring around Earth depends on global weather conditions and the amount of dust suspended in the air. A clear atmosphere on Earth means a bright lunar eclipse. If a major volcanic eruption has injected particles into the stratosphere during the previous couple of years, the eclipse is very dark. No such eruption has happened since our last total lunar eclipse in May of this year, so the betting is that this eclipse will be bright. 7. Middle of totality (8:19 p.m. ET): The moon is now shining anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times fainter than it was just a couple of hours ago. Since the moon is moving well to the south of the center of Earth’s umbra, the gradation of color and brightness across the moon’s disk should be such that its upper portion should appear darkest, with hues of deep copper or chocolate brown. Meanwhile, its lower portion — that part of the moon closest to the outer edge of the umbra — should appear brightest, with hues of reds, oranges and even perhaps a soft bluish-white. Observers away from bright city lights will notice a much greater number of stars than were visible before the eclipse began. The moon will be in the constellation of Aries the Ram, with the beautiful little Pleiades star cluster shining 15 degrees to the moon’s east (left). Your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky. The darkness of the sky is impressive for those in the countryside. The surrounding landscape takes on a somber hue. Before the eclipse, the full moon looked flat and one-dimensional. During totality, however, it will look smaller and three-dimensional, like some weirdly illuminated ball suspended in space. Before the moon entered Earth’s shadow, the temperature on its sunlit surface hovered at 266 degrees Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius). Since the moon lacks an atmosphere, there is no way that this heat can be retained from escaping into space as the shadow sweeps by. Now, in shadow, the temperature on the moon has dropped to minus 146 degrees Fahrenheit (99 degrees below zero Celsius). That’s a drop of 412 degrees Fahrenheit (229 degrees Celsius) in less than 90 minutes! 8. Total eclipse ends (8:31 p.m. ET): The emergence of the moon from the shadow begins. The first small segment of the moon begins to reappear, followed again for the next several minutes by the Japanese Lantern Effect. 9. 75 percent coverage (8:55 p.m. ET ): Any vestiges of coloration within the umbra should be disappearing now. From here on, as the dark shadow methodically creeps off the moon’s disk it should appear black and featureless. 10. Moon leaves umbra (10:05 p.m. ET): The dark central shadow clears the moon’s right hand (western) limb. 11. Penumbra shadow fades away (10:24 p.m. ET): As the last, faint shading vanishes off the Moon’s right portion, the visual show comes to an end. 12. Moon leaves penumbra (11:22 p.m. ET): The eclipse “officially” ends, as it is completely free of the penumbral shadow.

11-07-2003, 08:20 PM	#2
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	Lunar Eclipse Party on my roof! BYOB.
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

11-07-2003, 08:41 PM	#5
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	yeah clouds plan to ruin the night here too... Damn clouds! Attached Images

11-07-2003, 09:46 PM	#9
Stormtracker TF Happy Easter! Moderator Forum Idol Join Date: Jul 19, 2002 Location: Detroit, Michigan Posts: 102,598	Totally Clear and in the 20s for Saturday Night in my Town. So unless i forget i should be able to see it.
	__________________ i s .. i t ... s t i l l .. t h e . n e w .. a g e . ? . . . o r .. a m .. i ... t o o .. l a t e .? █║║▌║█ ║▌║▌│║▌║▌█║▌║█ ║▌║▌│║▌║▌█║▌║█ ║▌║▌│║▌║▌█║▌║█ ║▌║▌│║▌║▌█

11-07-2003, 10:09 PM	#11
musicradio77 Disney Expert Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 14, 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY USA Posts: 6,475	I like to see the lunar eclipse tomorrow night as soon as mother nature stays away from these clouds.
	__________________ Musicradio77 Productions

11-07-2003, 08:31 PM	#3
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	cool i'll bring a 6 pack of budweiser...

11-07-2003, 08:36 PM	#4
Brent88 Member Forum Star Join Date: Aug 01, 2003 Location: Alabama Posts: 16,174	It's expected to be cloudy here!!!!

11-07-2003, 09:23 PM	#8
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	tequila woohoooo

11-07-2003, 10:53 PM	#12
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	yeah i hope there will be a break in the clouds so I can at least see a bit of it... Attached Images

11-08-2003, 09:02 PM	#13
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	the moon is out Attached Images

11-08-2003, 09:14 PM	#15
Hollow Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 16, 2001 Posts: 30,406	the moon's red right now