Total Lunar Eclipse Aug 28th

Miaow · Aug 21, 2007

Thought people here would be interested in this - especially if they like photographing the moon.

Not sure on how visible or the times in other countries though (*have now posted more info on this in my next post)- this is from the paper here on the best times (Vic Australia)

STARGAZERS are in for a treat. A rare total eclipse of the moon will occur next Tuesday night, August 28.

The partial eclipse will begin at 6.52pm, with total blockout from 7.52pm to 9.22pm.

A lunar eclipse can only occur at full moon when the sun, Earth and moon are perfectly aligned.

When in the Earth's shadow, the moon sometimes appears red.

The last total eclipse was on July 16, 2000, according to Perry Vlahos from the Astronomical Society of Victoria.

"This is a lucky occurrence, especially because it's happening at a good time for kids and grown-ups alike to be able to enjoy," Mr Vlahos said.

GoM · Aug 21, 2007

So I guess it won't be visible in North America then?

Miaow · Aug 21, 2007

Looks like it will be visible there.. There's some maps on the below site also showing where can see it.

The total lunar eclipse of August 28 2007 will be visible over the Americas, the Pacific, eastern Asia, and Australasia.

The penumbral eclipse -- the least exciting, and hardest to see part -- will begin at 07:52:11 UT and end at 13:22:29 UT. It will be visible from the Americas when it begins around Moonset, the Pacific, and eastern Asia and Australasia as it ends at around Moonrise.

The partial eclipse will begin at 08:50:57 UT and end just over 3½ hours later at 12:23:50 UT, and will be visible from a slightly smaller area. The total eclipse lasts for 1½ hours; it begins at 09:52:00 UT and ends at 11:22:45 UT, with the moment of greatest eclipse at 10:37:22 UT. It is visible over Australasia, far eastern Asia, including Japan, the Pacific, most of North America (apart from the north-east), and western South America.

In the Pacific coast of the US, the total eclipse begins at 02:52:00 PDT and ends at 04:22:45 PDT, with the moment of greatest eclipse at 03:37:22 PDT.

The total eclipse should be a spectacular sight; the Moon will be well within the Earth's shadow, the umbral magnitude being 1.481, and should be deeply coloured by the Earth's atmosphere. Don't miss it!
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/2007-08-28/

astrostu · Aug 22, 2007

More information, and what I think is a map that's easier to read: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html .

Note that it's really only the umbral part where you'll really see any color and brightness change, so only if you're within the U1 through P4 regions will you see the eclipse.

Miaow · Aug 27, 2007

Only 24 hours to go till the eclipse - I'm really hoping the cloud stays away (think its meant to rain

) so I can try and get a pic

astrostu · Aug 27, 2007

Yeah, I'm trying not to be furious at the weather ... it's supposed to thunderstorm here wih 81% cloud cover.

Meysha · Aug 28, 2007

Well the eclipse is over halfway done now... and it was pretty good here. There was a fair bit of hazy cloud though which made it a bit tough to see through the telescope. But the colour was good. Nice rich orangey colour.

I tried to take some photos - but yeah - couldn't focus... and it was generally just lame. :-( Can't wait to see some good ones from you astro guys.

astrostu · Aug 28, 2007

It's over here (set behind the mountains) as of about 45 minutes ago. I took looooooooots of photos (can we say over 200?) and I'm hoping to have them "finalized" within a day. We'll see ...

Antarctican · Aug 28, 2007

I got to see the beginning of it, 'til a homeless guy insisted on sitting with me to watch it (at 5 a.m.) and making me nervous. Hope there are some good pictures posted soon!!