Blood-Red Moon Today: Last Total Lunar Eclipse until 2014 (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on December 10, 2011
Click image to enlarge... different photographs of August 28, 2007 lunar eclipse | Photo credit for compilation: Hotash, Flickr
On June 15, the longest and darkest lunar eclipse of this century occurred — today, depending upon where you live, we will have a spectacular blood-red lunar eclipse, the last total moon eclipse until the year 2014.
Many science experts have said that today’s total lunar eclipse is considered “the best of its kind” since 2001.
Too cool!
From Fox News, Lunar Eclipse Will Supersize Blood-Red Moon Saturday:
A total lunar eclipse will occur early Saturday morning, Dec.10, casting the moon into shadow and making it appear bright red and supersized.
In North America, skywatchers located in western Canada and the United States should have a great view of the eclipse, which will start at around 7:45 a.m. EST (4:45 a.m. PST, 1245 GMT), when the Earth’s shadow begins to creep across the lunar disk.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, throwing the moon into shadow.
“For people in the western United States, the eclipse is deepest just before local dawn,” NASA scientists said in a statement. “Face west to see the red moon sinking into the horizon as the sun rises behind your back. It’s a rare way to begin your day.”
Observers in Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and central and eastern Asia should also be well placed for the celestial show.
Unlike solar eclipses that are often visible to people within only a narrow slice of the globe, a lunar eclipse can be seen by anyone on the moon-facing side of the planet, explained Alan MacRobert, senior editor of the magazine Sky & Telescope.
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For those who are favorably placed to see it with their own eyes, this eclipse promises a stunning show, NASA officials said.
“Not only will the moon be beautifully red, it will also be inflated by the moon illusion,” NASA scientists explained. “For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.”
In reality, the moon is not any wider, but the human brain sees it differently, and those in the western United States will notice that the moon looks supersized.
And despite passing into shadow, the moon will be appear to be illuminated in dazzling reddish hues.
“[T]he delicate layer of dusty air surrounding our planet reddens and redirects the light of the sun, filling the dark behind Earth with a sunset-red glow,” NASA officials said.
Here’s a chart map of today’s lunar eclipse:
From Asia One, Chance to glimpse total lunar eclipse today:
A full lunar eclipse is expected to occur tonight, which can be observed by Bruneians and others throughout Asia and Australia.
The eclipse is anticipated to start at 7:34pm and peak at 10:19pm when the moon will be in total eclipse. The eclipse is also expected to end at 1.30am, some six hours afterwards.
Preparing for the eclipse are the Brunei Astronomical Society and the Survey Department, Ministry of Development.
The society’s secretary, Hazarry Hj Ali Ahmad, said that they will be set up along the waterfront at around 7pm with telescopes, which the public could use to observe.
While there was no need for any special equipment to observe a lunar eclipse, “you can see the difference if you watch with binoculars or a telescope”, Hazarry said.
He noted that it was also safe to watch it without special filters that were needed to observe a solar eclipse.
From BBC, Skywatchers enjoy lunar eclipse:
Skywatchers have begun enjoying the last total lunar eclipse until 2014.
The spectacle, which occurs when the earth casts its shadow over the moon, will be visible from Australia, Asia and North America.
But indirect sunlight can still illuminate the Moon, turning it a dramatic shade of red.
NASA produced this video overview on lunar eclipses.
Lunar Eclipse
From Xinhua News, Most-anticipated lunar eclipse in decade fascinates Chinese stargazers:
Many Chinese stargazers have started planning activities like gathering at observatories or taking photos of the “red moon” days ahead of the “most-anticipated lunar eclipse in a decade”.
Saturday’s total lunar eclipse is considered the best of its kind since 2001, according to Wang Sichao, a research fellow with Nanjing-based Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“It is the best because it offers people residing in China a perfectly chance to observe the entire process,” said Wang.
The next total lunar eclipse would occur in October 2014, but the Chinese had to wait until 2018 to enjoy the entire process, Wang added.
Saturday’s eclipse started at around 7:30 p.m. Beijing Time and would last about six hours.
According to the latest weather forecast, the eclipse will be visible to most people living in the eastern part of the country.
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