If you're curious to see how the whole thing turned out, Florida amateur astronomer William Castleman stayed up very late and had clear views. He made this excellent video. Enjoy!
Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Lunar Eclipse 2010 Video
Sadly here in southern California we missed out on the lunar eclipse due to the cloudy skies! :-(
If you're curious to see how the whole thing turned out, Florida amateur astronomer William Castleman stayed up very late and had clear views. He made this excellent video. Enjoy!
If you're curious to see how the whole thing turned out, Florida amateur astronomer William Castleman stayed up very late and had clear views. He made this excellent video. Enjoy!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Two Profound Facts about Lunar Eclipses
(This is a follow-up on my earlier post, "Lunar Eclipse 2010".)
1. Once the Moon enters the central portion of Earth's shadow, it will be bathed in red-orange light. Why is that? Besides being very unusual and pretty, the cause of this is actually profound: that orange-red color is the light cast by the sum of all sunrises and sunsets happening on the Earth at that moment.
Don't follow what I'm saying? Here's a video I threw together:
2. Because the Moon is entering the Earth's shadow, it's a rare chance to directly observe the spherical shape of the Earth. While you've certainly never doubted the truth of the fact that the Earth is round and not flat, have you ever really sought proof for it? Unless you plan on a voyage to interplanetary space anytime in the near future, lunar eclipses are the most visually-arresting demonstration of the fact.
Incidentally, the ancient Greeks were the first to realize Earth's shape (and systematically compile the other evidence for it as well). Sort of turns the old "In 1492, everyone told Columbus he'd fall off the face of the Earth!" claim on its head! If true, those must have been some uneducated people, even for their own time.
For an explanation and schedule of the eclipse, see my earlier post, "Lunar Eclipse 2010".
1. Once the Moon enters the central portion of Earth's shadow, it will be bathed in red-orange light. Why is that? Besides being very unusual and pretty, the cause of this is actually profound: that orange-red color is the light cast by the sum of all sunrises and sunsets happening on the Earth at that moment.
Don't follow what I'm saying? Here's a video I threw together:
2. Because the Moon is entering the Earth's shadow, it's a rare chance to directly observe the spherical shape of the Earth. While you've certainly never doubted the truth of the fact that the Earth is round and not flat, have you ever really sought proof for it? Unless you plan on a voyage to interplanetary space anytime in the near future, lunar eclipses are the most visually-arresting demonstration of the fact.
Incidentally, the ancient Greeks were the first to realize Earth's shape (and systematically compile the other evidence for it as well). Sort of turns the old "In 1492, everyone told Columbus he'd fall off the face of the Earth!" claim on its head! If true, those must have been some uneducated people, even for their own time.
For an explanation and schedule of the eclipse, see my earlier post, "Lunar Eclipse 2010".
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Lunar Eclipse 2010
There will be an eclipse of the Moon on the evening of Monday, December 20, 2010 and lasting into the early hours of Tuesday, December 21, 2010. This eclipse is especially well-visible from North America, and a lunar eclipse won't occur again until April 2014. (The last one occurred in August 2007).
10:30pm - the Moon begins to enter the Earth's shadow
11:40pm - the Moon is completely covered
1:00am (Tuesday) - the Moon begins to emerge from the center of the shadow
2:00am - the Moon has completely left the Earth's shadow, eclipse over
11:40pm - the Moon is completely covered
1:00am (Tuesday) - the Moon begins to emerge from the center of the shadow
2:00am - the Moon has completely left the Earth's shadow, eclipse over
(If you're in North America but somewhere other than the West Coast, simply adjust for your time zone. For example, in New York City, the eclipse won't start until around 1:30am Tuesday. For Chicago, the eclipse won't start until around 12:30am Tuesday.)
What is a lunar eclipse and why do we see it?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Full Moon passes into the shadow of the Earth. Since outer space is black, we don't usually see Earth's shadow or even realize that it has one. But it does--for the same reason you have a shadow when you're standing in bright sunlight.
Every couple of years, the Moon's orbit and Earth's orbit line up just right such that the Moon actually goes into the Earth's shadow, which makes it seem as if the Full Moon is disappearing. Here's a diagram:
Every couple of years, the Moon's orbit and Earth's orbit line up just right such that the Moon actually goes into the Earth's shadow, which makes it seem as if the Full Moon is disappearing. Here's a diagram:
As a result of this, here is what we see from Earth (see time-lapse video below). As can be seen in the video, notice that oddly, as the Moon approaches the very center of the shadow--where you might expect it to get darkest--it actually begins to turn reddish-brown instead.
In my next post, I'll attempt to explain why that is, and you'll learn two reasons why I think lunar eclipses are so worth checking out: Click here to read it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)