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Tonight's Dazzling 'Supermoon' Lunar Eclipse: What You'll See

Posted by samzenpus on from the have-a-look dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Astronomers are gearing up to spot a rare phenomenon, as a lunar eclipse coincides with a so-called "supermoon". Whether you think it marks the beginning of the apocalypse or is just a neat thing to look at tonight, Live Science has some tips and a timetable for best viewing in your area. The moon enters Earth's full shadow, called the umbra, starting at 9:07 p.m. EDT (6:07 p.m. PDT). The total eclipse begins at 10:11 p.m. EDT (7:11 p.m. PDT). Totality lasts an hour and 12 minutes, at which point a bright sliver of the moon will emerge and grow.

3 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Enough with the fucking "Supermoon" already! by PvtVoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    The concept of a "supermoon" was invented by an astrologer, and has exactly zero astronomical significance. The moon is slightly larger in the sky. Whooooaah.

  2. Prepare your observation... by Arkh89 · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can use Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/, or with the help of your package manager) to get a preview of tonight's sky at your terrestrial location (not accounting for cloud cover though). This includes a simulation of the actual eclipse.

  3. GMT / UTC ? by Tomahawk · · Score: 5, Informative

    Once again, Slashdot firmly planted itself in US-only only land, completely ignoring the other 6billion+ of us on this little planet... *sigh*. At least these times cover Canada and South America, somewhat, even if only by accident.

    Anyway, for the rest of us:

    Partial eclipse begins at 01:07:13 UTC
    Totality starts at 02:11:12 UTC
    Maximum eclipse at 02:47:09 UTC
    Totality ends at 03:23:05 UTC
    Partial eclipse ends at 04:27:05

    Find these times in your local timezone here: http://www.timeanddate.com/ecl...