Impressions of this morning's Lunar Eclipse

[MeteorWayne]

Hi folks, just thought I'd share my experience with this mornings total lunar eclipse.<br /><br />It's the first time I've ever seen a setting totally eclipsed moon, and was very interesting.<br /><br />I woke up about 3 AM, and knew I couldn't risk going back to sleep, so I was up from then on.<br /><br />Start of the umbral phase was 4:51 AM EDT, so I began watching about an hour earlier to attempt to see the penumbral dimming, but was pretty much thwarted by clouds. I did have a hole in the clouds about 4 AM, but was not able to see any dimming across the face (and I specifically did not know what direction the shadow was approaching from, to avoid any observing bias.)<br /><br />It was then cloudy (mostly in the SW, the direction of the moon <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> until after the start of the partial eclipse, which I first got to see right about 5 AM, when the moon was about 14 degrees above the WSW horizon.<br /><br />From then on, it was clear most of the time until totality began at 5:51 AM,<br />which was only a few minutes before civil twilight.<br /><br />I was able to see the fully eclipsed moon only for about another 10 minutes as the sky brightened. It was hard to see the darker top edge, whereas the lower semicircle's edge red glow was easier to see. At about 6:01, I had to move out of the middle of the street (the only spot to see it through the trees) due to a passing car, and when I went back 30 seconds later I was unable to find it in another 5 minutes of searching.<br />The sky was simply brighter than the full moon <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I took a few shots with my digital camera, but as expected, they came out like crap. I'm attaching one, only to show the angle at which the shadow and the moon met.<br /><br />Table of circumstances<br /><br />Event...EDT Time...Moon Elevation...Sun Elevation<br />Astro Twilight...0444....16d5m........-18d<br />Partial eclipse...0451....15 degrees....-16d53.6m<br />First View Partial...0500...13d34 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I wanted to comment on one other thing I noticed this morning.<br />I have never seen the seeing as profoundly blinky as it was last night.<br /><br />I mean the stars were twinkling so intensely, even Rigel, at near 0 magnitude was blinking off and on. It was amazing. For instants, a zero magnitude star disappeared, the atmosphere was so roiled.<br /><br />In the early twilight, I looked with the binoculars at it, then defocused to see the colors better. I saw every color in the rainbow, and a few that haven't been invented yet.<br /><br />Again, I am in NW NJ, USA.<br /><br />MW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Oh, and here's the crappy image I meant to attach <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[usn_skwerl]

mine are no better. i was confused when i saw rigel. it was blinking a lot here in philly too. we had almost no clouds. one small stratus cloud got in the way of the moon, barely, as the eclipse started. i posted 2 pics over on th photography thread, but ill kick over them here too....<br /><br />theyre crappy, but if that first shot aint pure luck, i dont know what is!!! <br /><br />(edit, i know how to spell stratus) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[usn_skwerl]

and pic #2...best of about 15. both pics taken about 0510-0515 eastern <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[brellis]

Santa Monica saw it under clear skies. What a treat!<br /><br />Seeing the combined shading really tells you the moon is a sphere, and seeing the orange ball in the night sky makes it look quite surreal.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[lukman]

My told me it was fasinating, she said it was red colour, sadly i cant see it, there are very thick cloud in my area. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Saiph]

I stepped outside at ~3:45 pacific time on my way to work.<br /><br />I took two steps out the door and stopped, staring at the moon trying to figure out why it was so red, and so high in the sky. Those shouldn't go together. No clouds, no smoke, nada.<br /><br />Then, it struck me: Lunar Eclipse.<br /><br />Looked awesome, took me by complete suprise, and was well recieved by my coworkers when I pointed it out to them. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[kosmonavtkaa]

I saw it last night at totality (8:40 p.m. in Melbourne). It was cloudy before, but the sky cleared up just in time! It was reminiscent of Mars. Next one won't be visible here until 2011! (Lunar eclipse page at the ABC site) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[brellis]

<font color="yellow">It was reminiscent of Mars. </font><br /><br />maybe that's the source of the "huge mars in august" rumours that return every year. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[weeman]

Cool pics. I unfortunately missed the eclipse. I was dead tired and there might have been a lot of cloud cover here in Colorado. Not sure, I was sound asleep <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[mccorvic]

This was the first lunar eclipse that I actually got to see. I woke up early and sat wth a cup of coffee (well, a FEW cups of coffee) and watched it from beginning to end. It just really blew me away to see the shadow of the Earth and to think that it was OUR shadow. Just really cool.<br /><br />But I had to go to work afterwards and I was the most tired I've had been since my college days.

 

[3488]

My best ones:<br /><br />1). Tenerife, Canary Islands in May 2003.<br /><br />2). My home town in the UK in April 1996, November 2005, & March this year.<br /><br />All were fantastically clear, the moon well up & all pretty deep.<br /><br />The one in Tenerife in May 2003 was in Libra, & from the UK would have been rather low (AFAIK it <br />was raining here at the time, so would not have seen it anyway).<br /><br />The eclipsed moon & the WHOLE of Scorpius was visible. From here in the UK (I am almost as <br />far south in the UK, that one can go), the <br />sting never rises & Antares always transits rather low. But from Tenerife being <br />only 27 degrees North, it was quite a sight.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Hi MeteorWayne,<br /><br />You will like this APOD.<br /><br />South Pole Lunar Eclipse.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[askold]

My impression is that it was scheduled too late into the evening. I decided to stay up late to watch it (on the west coast). Had some wine to pass the time ... Just caught the beginning of the eclipse. It was nice.<br /><br />I hope the next one is closer to 9:00pm.