Amazing spectacle: Total lunar eclipse Monday night

[Lochloosa]

For a few hours on the night of Dec. 20 to Dec. 21, the attention of tens of millions of people will be drawn skyward, where the mottled, coppery globe of our moon will hang completely immersed in the long, tapering cone of shadow cast out into space by our Earth. If the weather is clear, favorably placed skywatchers will have a view of one of nature's most beautiful spectacles: a total eclipse of the moon.

Unlike a total eclipse of the sun, which is only visible to those in the path of totality, eclipses of the moon can usually be observed from one's own backyard. The passage of the moon through the Earth's shadow is equally visible from all places within the hemisphere where the moon is above the horizon.

snip

The eclipse will actually begin when the moon enters the faint outer portion, or penumbra, of the Earth's shadow a little over an hour before it begins moving into the umbra. The penumbra, however, is all but invisible to the eye until the moon becomes deeply immersed in it. Sharp-eyed viewers may get their first glimpse of the penumbra as a faint smudge on the left part of the moon's disk at or around 6:15 UT (on Dec. 21) which corresponds to 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time or 10:15 p.m. Pacific Time (on Dec. 20).

The most noticeable part of this eclipse will come when the moon begins to enter the Earth's dark inner shadow (called the umbra). A small scallop of darkness will begin to appear on the moon's left edge at 6:33 UT (on Dec. 21) corresponding to 1:33 a.m. EST or 10:33 p.m. PST (on Dec. 20).



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40719498?gt1=43001

[eowyn_of_rohan]

1. Full Moon + Lunar Eclipse on the Solstice!

When's the last time that happened, I wonder?

[Lochloosa]

2. I missed that. Good point. Lunar Eclipse are always on a Full Moon.

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mooneclipse/

A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. Earth always has a shadow, which is created by the Sun. On those rare occasions when the Moon, Earth and the Sun are all lined up just right, the Moon passes through this shadow.This would happen every full moon if the Moon orbited around the Earth in the same plane as the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Moons orbit, however, is tilted about 5 degrees above the Earth-Sun plane. This tilt itself, however, rotates, allowing eclipses to happen when the tilt of this plane lines up with the Earth-Sun plane, blocking sunlight.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

3. That's true but it is not so common to have a full moon on the Solstice

(that's why I put that in)

[snagglepuss]

7. The last time it occurred was 456 years ago! Best at 3:17 AM but CBC

doesn't indicate the time zone.




http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/12/17/lunar-eclipse-winter-solstice-coincide.html

[eowyn_of_rohan]

10. Whoa - 456 years!

Thanks for finding this! Good tidbit to share at our annual Solstice Party next week :)

Adding-
Last time this occurred was in 1554 AD

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. got the 10" reflector ready

and camera too! should be an awesome night if the weather holds...

sP

[Stargazer99]

5. What kind of camera are you using

My friend in the Tacoma Astonomical Society invented the cold camera that is why I'm asking

My ID Stargazer99 is for a reason

[ProdigalJunkMail]

12. i THINK you were asking me

but I am using a simple Nikon DSLR with a 400mm lens...I have gotten some decent pics with a 200mm but the 400 I am borrowing should really get me where I need to be for nice crisp images...

We shall see how it goes...

sP

[snagglepuss]

6. Thanks for posting but curious what UT refers to?

[prodigals0n]

8. UT = Universal Time

From NASA:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/TimeZone.html

Universal Time or UT is the precise measure of time used as the basis for all civil time-keeping. Although their exact definitions differ, most readers can assume that Universal Time is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. Universal Time is actually based on the mean sidereal time as measured in Greenwich, England. It's also approximately equal to mean solar time from Greenwich.

Like most other astronomical calculations, eclipse predictions are usually presented in terms of Universal Time. In order to convert eclipse predictions from UT to local time, you need to know what time zone you are in. For North Americans, the conversion from UT to local time is as follows:

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) = UT - 4 hours
Eastern Standard Time (EST) = UT - 5 hours
Central Standard Time (CST) = UT - 6 hours
Mountain Standard Time (MST) = UT - 7 hours
Pacific Standard Time (PST) = UT - 8 hours

If Daylight Saving Time is in effect in the time zone, you must ADD one hour to the above standard times.

[Robb]

9. These really are worth staying up for.

Here's one I shot a few years ago with a cheap-o digital camera and a tripod. :)

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. very nice...

would you mind sharing (if you remember) your shutter speed and f-stops? i will be using a 400mm lens...

sP

[trackfan]

11. Unfortunately, Los Angeles is projected to be under a cloud

from now through next Wednesday :(

[pnorman]

14. thanks! I'll pass it on to a friend in Hawaii.

He follows such stuff closely/

[Blue_In_AK]

15. That's a great time of day for Alaska.

I hope it's still clear. We might catch some Northern Lights, too. We don't see them much here in the city, but I heard they were phenomenal in Fairbanks last night.

[dreamnightwind]

16. And it's on my birthday, too cool

Thanks, I wouldn't have known. Raining here in northern California, may not be visible, I'll check though.

You're a Jerry G fan?

Look for a while at the China Cat sunflower,
Proud walking jingle in the midnight sun.
Copperdome bodhi drip a silver kimono,
Like a crazy quilt stargown through a dream night wind.