PDA

View Full Version : Lunar Eclipse Tonight



chop456
11-08-03, 12:06 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/11/06/lunar.eclipse.ap/index.html

(AP) -- Stargazers across North and South America, Europe and Africa will watch the full moon dim into a dark, ruddy orb over the weekend as the moon drifts through Earth's shadow in the latest celestial event this year to pull eyes skyward.

Sky watchers scrutinized Mars during its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years this summer and were awed by red and green aurora displays as far south as Florida thanks to big explosions on the sun in recent weeks.

And now more heavenly happenings are on the way.

Saturday's lunar eclipse will be followed by the Leonid meteor shower, a total solar eclipse over the southern hemisphere -- and a chance for more auroras if the sun stays active. Another eruption Tuesday on the sun ranked among the most intense solar events ever recorded. But the explosion was aimed away from Earth, meaning it would have little impact here.

Still, the otherworldly event the public has the best chance of seeing is Saturday's total eclipse of the moon. At its peak, the moon will hang eerily in the night sky like a dark, reddish-orange coal.

Unlike unpredictable comets and meteors, the moon is a reliable show, said Stephen Maran, a spokesman for the American Astronomical Society.

"Nowadays people who've grown up in the city or suburbs have never seen the Milky Way, but even in the most light-polluted place I've ever been -- downtown Los Angeles -- you can see the moon," he said.

Weather cooperating, people in the eastern United States, South America, Europe and Africa will witness the entire eclipse; it will already be under way when the moon rises around sunset in the western United States, and it will not be visible at all in Asia and Australia.

The eclipse reaches totality at 8:06 p.m. Saturday night, EST. That stage -- when the moon, Earth and sun are lined up precisely and the moon passes through the darkest part of Earth's shadow -- lasts just 24 minutes.

Unlike eclipses of the sun, which can damage viewers' unprotected eyes, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye or binoculars.

Total lunar eclipses come in many colors, from dark brown and red to bright orange, yellow and even gray, depending on how much dust and clouds are in the Earth's atmosphere at that time, Maran said.

In ancient times, the phenomenon was believed caused by some unseen monster bloodying the moon, an omen of disaster.

Leonids to peak mid-November
If clouds blot out Saturday's event, disappointed viewers won't have to wait long before the annual Leonid meteor shower arrives.

The shooting star display will peak first for viewers in western Asia, Indonesia and Australia before dawn on November 14th. For western Africa, western Europe, North America and western portions of South America, the display peaks a few days later, on November 19.

Viewers will be able to see 100 or so meteors per hour, some of them fireballs, said Stuart Levy of the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society in central Illinois.

Levy's views of spectacular Leonid showers during the past few years were ruined by clouds, but he'll be trying again this month.

"I've missed the best, when people were seeing hundreds of meteors an hour. If I see 100 an hour this time around I'll be happy. It might be a really good show, with luck," he said.

November 23 also will bring a total solar eclipse, although seeing it will require a bit of travel. It will be visible only in Antarctica.

Warlock!
11-08-03, 02:23 PM
Excellent. Crystal clear here today/tonight. Looks like a great night to hang out on the deck with a big ol' stogie and a glass of chilled vodka.

Sometimes life is very good... :cool:

Warlock!

chop456
11-08-03, 02:52 PM
Originally posted by Warlock!
Looks like a great night to hang out on the deck with a big ol' stogie and a glass of chilled vodka.

Screw that.

Come on up and help me install this patio door. It's gonna' be a blast. :D

Warlock!
11-08-03, 05:01 PM
Dude, if I were within an hour of ya I'd be all over that. Of course you'd have to douse me in booze the whole time I'm working...

Man this cool weather is nice. Just got done mowing the lawn (hopefully the last time this year) and I didn't feel a drop of sweat anywhere on my person. My fingers were even stinging a bit by the time I finished up.

Oh, and my beer never got below 35 degrees :D

Warlock!

Dvdb
11-08-03, 09:37 PM
Overcast here in St. Louis tonight. Damn!! Have to catch it via television.

Railbird
11-08-03, 10:08 PM
Clear view here in Indy.



Calls for a pagan ritual if you ask me


and don't Bogart it!

chop456
11-08-03, 10:35 PM
Clouds moved in here just at the moment of totality. Still cool, but not 100%.

Ankf00
11-08-03, 11:20 PM
all rain here :(

RTKar
11-09-03, 12:59 AM
Originally posted by chop456
Clouds moved in here just at the moment of totality. Still cool, but not 100%.

I happened to be in a bar....

rabbit
11-09-03, 01:17 AM
I had to cover a football game up at Napoleon High School - named, or course, after the legendary OffCamber poster. ;) The press box there faces due East so I got to watch the whole thing from a heated press box, which I was thankful for because the game was a 27-0 blowout that was over about five minutes after the opening kickoff.

Warlock!
11-09-03, 12:45 PM
Originally posted by rabbit
...Napoleon High School...
Go Wildcats!!!

Warlock! (NHS Alumni)

Joelski
11-09-03, 01:29 PM
Just had to include this!


http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/ ;)

Warlock!
11-10-03, 08:20 AM
Hooooollllyyy ****, Joel! HTF did you find that?!? LMAO!

Warlock!

Hardpoint
11-10-03, 11:13 AM
ROTFLMFAO!!!!!! That was crazy. I love it.

Corner5
11-10-03, 03:29 PM
It was bright and clear
Very brilliant!
Time for howling!:cool:

Eagle104
11-10-03, 07:11 PM
Originally posted by RTKar
I happened to be in a bar....
i happened to be drinking at home....which meant i actually saw two eclipses as i looked up at it..er, them.:laugh:

Railbird
11-10-03, 07:41 PM
So Eag'

You're saying the moon didn't split into two for everyone that night?


I'll be dammed.

I thought it was just part of the show

Eagle104
11-10-03, 07:45 PM
as far as we're concerned, it did.

can't talk long now, i have an irl official on hold...they're offering me a job to count the 'house' for them at every race next year. you want in?? :D

JT265
11-10-03, 08:34 PM
Dan Chassis, how dat go agin?

"One, two, three, and anudder,

and anudder,

and anudder,

and anudder,....


:D

Railbird
11-10-03, 10:07 PM
you want in??


If we're tapping into Flo and Mari's bar I'm predicting record crowds.

The swill they were selling at the events I attended last year kept giving me that blurred vision that made everything look like bare aluminum.