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Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight
chuckpeters writes "A total lunar eclipse will soon darken the full moon for most of North and South America, Europe, and Africa.
The Moon rises about five p.m. EST and the eclipse will be in penumbra. Totality begins at 8:06 p.m. EST. and ends at 8:31 PM EST and the partial eclipse ends at 10:45 PM. EST" To obtain the time and location for your area, use the Lunar Computer. It looks like the weather will cooperate and we will have clear skies for most of the country. Articles can be found at NASA, Space.com, Sky and Telescope, and Starry Skies."
The Lunar Computer will only give you US times. BTW only the Northern East Coast will get totality. You should be able to see the full eclipse from anywhere in Europe, North Africa and Ukrain.
The Moon will be in penumbra at 11 PM CET. Totality begins at 2:06 a.m. CET on the 9th of November, and ends at 2:31 a.m. CET, and the partial eclipse ends at 14:45 a.m. CET.
Substract one hour for GMT.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
It should be visible tonight after the eclipse.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
Totality should be 01:06 AM to 01:31 AM GMT.
Hell is not other people; it is yourself. - Ludwig Wittgenstein
EXN has all the times for the eclipse in Canada. Check'em out! I'll be out watching! I love astronomical events. w00t! w00t!
EXN article/eclipse times for Canada http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2003/10/31/51.asp?t=dp
from the burn-your-eyes-out dept. There is no risk of damaging your vision by looking at a lunar eclipse. The sun is positioned behind the earth which blocks light from hitting the moon, so if anything you may have to strain in some places to see the lunar eclipse. Solar eclipses, on the other hand, do present a danger of vision loss cuz staring directly at the sun is never a good idea.
"This food is problematic."
You can enter your long/lat/time-zone here:
h tm l
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/LunarEclipse.
http://www.wunderground.com
The site provides detailed weather and sky charts for almost anywhere in the world. Cool, eh!!
It's worth also pointing out that tonight we will be experiencing the Leonids meteor shower. This is one of the stronger showers of the year, and back in 1998 it produced around 200 meteors per hour. While its not possible to predict how many meteors there will be this year, the fact that the shower is combined with a lunar eclipse makes it rather special, IMHO. Interestingly enough, the same conincidence happened last year!
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Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse happens simultaneously regardless of where you are. The only questions are A) what time zone you're in (a little simple arithmetic), and B) whether you're in the right place to have an unobstructed view of the moon.
1) The eastern coast will see it
:oP
2) All of the rest of America will see it, but only while the moon is rising, Australia's actually the only continent that won't see it.
3) Slashdot serves the entire planet. It is relevant to more people than it isn't.
Here is a better calculator with the option to find times for the rest of the world as well as other eclipses.
[alk]
What OS? Sun Clock for Win32 includes a sky map. I won't vouch for it being great (I Am Not An Astronomer) but if you want something for free that you can set up in a few minutes, give it a shot.
... of course, you can an even better view of the Milky Way on any clear night with a new moon. Not selling the experience of seeing the eclipse short, you understand. ;) Just pointing out that the night of the new moon is pretty much always the best for looking at just about anything else in the night sky.
...
And location, location, location. I live in Colorado. High up in the mountains, you can go out on a night with a brilliant full moon and still see the Milky Way quite clearly, because there's no skyglow to speak of. Down in Denver, all the conditions can be perfect -- new moon, clear night, still air, etc. -- and you're still not going to see that much because the city lights drown most of it out. From what I remember of Cornwall, I'll bet there are lots of good viewing spots
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If you run linux, Kstars is an excellent and free choice. If you don't, there's a web based sky chart available from Sky and Telescope magazine's website.
If all of this leaves you and your Mac cold, I'm sorry. Debian does have a Mac port, but I'm unfamiliar with it. Knoppix is on the way for you if it's not already here.
Free software for everyone!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Amateur astronomers are encouraged to make a note of the appearance of the eclipse and rank it on the Danjon scale. The scale looks something like this:
L = 0 Very dark eclipse. Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
L = 1 Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration. Details distinguishable only with difficulty.
L = 2 Deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
L = 3 Brick-red eclipse. Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
L = 4 Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse. Umbral shadow has a bluish, very bright rim.
The data is collected by Sky & Telescope and eventually NASA. For lack of another address, (astronomy AT valivingmuseum.org) is collecting data. Along with your rating on the Danjon scale, please include the following:
-Time of Viewing & time zone
-Sky Conditions: (e.g. clear, thin clouds, partly cloudy, etc.)
-General Location
Yesterday's Astronomy Picture of the Day has a good animation, and today's has a picture of the eclipsed moon in infrared.
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