Lunar Eclipse Next Week
Published on Feb 24, 2007 at 8:02 am.
12 Comments.
Filed under eclipses, skywatching.
Next Saturday, March 3, the Full Moon will pass through Earth’s shadow. This is a lunar eclipse. The Moon shines by reflected sunlight, so you’d suspect that it might not be visible if the Sun isn’t shining on it, but there’d you be wrong. Earth has an atmosphere, and it is Earth that is blocking the Sun as seen from the Moon. Everyone is familiar with the condition of twilight. The Sun sets, but it isn’t totally dark yet. This is an effect of the atmosphere. So, seen from the Moon, the Earth will be a large glowing ring of twilight in the sky in front of the Sun. Earth’s atmosphere also lenses light somewhat, in a process we call refraction. This focusses even more light onto the Moon. So, rather than disappearing during an eclipse, the Moon turns twilight colors. It can be red, orange, or various shades in between.
A useful rating system for rating eclipses was develped by Andre Danjon over half a century ago. It goes like this:
L=0: Very dark eclipse. The Moon is almost invisible at mid-eclipse.
L=1: Dark eclipse. The Moon appears gray or brown in color. Lunar details are very difficult to distinguish.
L=2: Deep red, or rust colored eclipse. The Moon appears blood colored. The center of the umbra is much darker than the outer portions.
L=3: Brick red eclipse. Surface features are easy to make out. The outer portions of the umbra are very bright, almost yellowish.
L=4: Copper or orange colored eclipse. The umbra is very bright, and somewhat bluish, near its edge. The Moon looks more like it does while rising or setting that you’d normally expect it to look in an eclipse.
It is really hard to predict what the Danjon scale rating will be for an eclipse ahead of time. You normally just have to wait and see. I’ll post more about the eclipse later in the week, as we get closer to it.
The best place to view this eclipse is Africa or Europe. By the time the Moon rises on the East coast of the United States, it will aready be totally eclipsed. Here in Texas, it will be coming out of the total phase just as it is rising. We’ll be able to see it emerge from the Earth’s shadow (weather permitting). The West coast of the US pretty much misses the whole thing. The far western portion of Australia up to Korea will see the Moon setting while still entering the eclipse. China will see the Moon setting either totally eclipsed or just coming out of eclipse (depending on how far west the observer is). Only the easternmost part of Brazil will see the Moon enter the umbra right after Moonrise. The rest of South America will see the Moon rise either already partially eclipsed or totally eclipsed (for the western part of the continent).
-Astroprof
(Image Credit: Wikimedia)
Mark on February 25, 2007 at 1:41 pm: 1
Thanks for this— it is just fascinating! I am a prof in a very different field (Classics) but I loves me my stars, supernovae, and all that cool space stuff.
A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on February 26, 2007 at 10:32 am: 2
[…] “Rosetta swings by Mars“, no Bas Astronomy. Ainda sobre o mesmo assunto, “Flying Over Mars on the Way to a Comet”, no The SpaceWriter’s Ramblings,”Rosetta Was Here“, no The Planetary Society Blog, “Lunar Eclipse Next Week“, no Astroprof’s Page. Pois é, é já para a semana; […]
Mark Smith (Astro Mark) on February 26, 2007 at 2:14 pm: 3
Cant wait untill saturday got the whole eclipse here in the UK Just hope the weather is good
mark
Astroprof’s Page » March 3, 2007, Lunar Eclipse on March 1, 2007 at 4:31 pm: 4
[…] Lunar eclipses happen when the Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. They often play second behind the solar eclipses, when the Moon passes in front of the Sun, and that is a shame. They are really quite interesting in their own right. But, the mass media normally seems to concentrate on the solar eclipses. That might be somewhat understandable, though, since it is more dramatic if the Sun were to be blotted out than the Moon being blotted out. Furthermore, as I said in my earlier post, the Moon normally doesn’t get totally blotted out, even during a total lunar eclipse. Generally light scattered and refracted through Earth’s atmosphere still illuminates the Moon to a degree (though not nearly as much as if they Sun were shining directly on it). […]
G on March 4, 2007 at 8:28 am: 5
when is the next lunar eclipse after 3rd March 2007?
Astroprof on March 4, 2007 at 9:08 am: 6
The next lunar eclipse will be a total lunar eclipse August 28, 2007. That one will be best seen from the middle of the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii). Most people in North America, who saw the Moon rising during the March 3 eclipse will see the Moon setting during the one in August. The people in Asia who saw the Moon setting eclipsed, will see the August one rising eclipsed. And, Europe and Africa will miss out on the whole event.
Charles on July 25, 2007 at 8:02 pm: 7
Will it be a red moon in August 28,2007
Astroprof on July 26, 2007 at 3:11 am: 8
It is hard to say just how red the moon will appear until the eclipse actually happens.
Sherry Kopelman on July 26, 2007 at 4:57 pm: 9
What time will the August 27 or August 28, 2007 lunar eclipse be visible in Hawaii, specifically on the Big Island?
Thanks, aloha!
Sherry
Astroprof on July 26, 2007 at 5:05 pm: 10
The US Naval Observatory has a nice eclipse computer to let you know when you\’ll be able to see eclipses from any location. It is to be found at this site .
lily on February 21, 2008 at 11:22 am: 11
when will the next lunar eclipse happen in 2008-2011.
Astroprof on February 21, 2008 at 11:51 am: 12
The next lunar eclipse will be August 16, 2008. But, it will be visible in its entirety best in Africa, and it will not be seen at all in North America.
The next lunar eclipses visible in North America will be a partial eclipse June 26, 2010, and a total lunar eclipse December 21, 2010.