Lunar eclipse

[Jacques]

To inform you if you have a clear night and live Europe or America a nice lunar eclipse will happen !

Lunar eclipse animation

More details

[Mr Skeptic]

Thanks for posting that. I would have probably missed it otherwise.

[Norman Albers]

It is bloody red and gorgeous. There's a diamond ring descending the right side.

[iNow]

It's overcast here... Thick clouds in every direction.

[Norman Albers]

Aha, brighter now, still on the lower right. It's a bright SMILIE grin. . . . . . now a half-moon grin but with a strong curve, not a straight midline.

[NeonBlack]

I saw it. It was very nice. There have been a lot of eclipses in the past few years, but I keep missing them. I haven't seen one in about 10 years (I think it was the same year as Comet Halle-Bopp).

Sad, I know.

Tragic really.

[markus.dnd]

I missed it... again. been trying to see one for years... but every time it is cloudy... oh well. maybe some day is better for me

[wigan1895]

Clouds. We had clear nights Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but come Wednesday solid clouds! For those of use in the UK we will have to wait until 2015 to try again.

[stevo247]

Perfectly clear skies here. I've seen this a couple of times. During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears more three dimensional to me. My wife mentioned to someone that she was talking to on the phone that we were observing the lunar eclipse. They replied, "Don't you have to use special eye protection?"

[Norman Albers]

Depending upon just how cold things are in your locale, yes!

[Jacques]

Hi

Happy that many of you enjoyed the show!

For those where the sky was covered I took some photos. Not easy whitout a tripod but here they are ! The first one was taken when it was partial. On the last one you can see saturn to left.

[Jacques]

That one is super! (not from me:)

And a lot of others there

[Norman Albers]

Thanks, Jacques, that's a stunning, high-drama pic.

[falcon9393]

awsome pics whoever took those forget a job in science become a photographer for sure! i saw the eclipse it was pretty cool !!

[thedarkshade]

Damn damn damn..... I bloody missed it:doh:

[ecoli]

Isn't there going to be a solar eclipse in August?

[thedarkshade]

Any links to share with us ecoli that could confirm that??? If so, please do it now, I'm a big fan of eclipses;)!

[Jacques]

August 1st 2008 eclipse

Other eclipses

[thedarkshade]

August 1st 2008 eclipse

Other eclipses

Thanks a lot:D

 

I just put them as reminders on my phone so there is NO WAY I'm gonna miss them again...

 

Cheers!

[Blue Fire]

That shot of the Moon dipping behind a peak is indeed inspiring! I got to see the vast majority of the eclipse (some clouds for a while), but alas I didn't get any pictures. So I appreciate everyone else's efforts. I never get tired of lunar eclipses, and I've see a few in my time. I don't understand why everyone doesn't get into them, but I have several friends who just never bother keeping track of these things and don't look up.

 

I couldn't detect the turquoise band with my naked eyes, but my 12x binoculars did the trick.

[The_simpsons]

I woke up 4 o'clock in the morning to see it. Unfortunately there were clouds as far as the eye could see, so i didn't see a thing.

 

Well the next total eclipse is coming up in 2 years, so it ain't that bad.

[thedarkshade]

Well the next total eclipse is coming up in 2 years, so it ain't that bad.

Unfortunately yes, but there is a partial one in August!

[Blue Fire]

I've noted discrepancies in reported brightness and color of the eclipse between observers at various locations. For example, some say the Moon was brighter than previous eclipses and some say it was darker. The Sky & Telescope website reports that it was brighter and has a comparison pic of last year's eclipse and this one. Their pic of this year's eclipse pretty closely matched what I saw.

 

Is it possible that the viewing location would account for widely varying observation reports of a total lunar eclipse? I can, of course, imagine the effects of light pollution, cloud cover, etc., but even those folks who say they had dark skies and no cloud cover disagree over brightness and color.

[insane_alien]

I've noted discrepancies in reported brightness and color of the eclipse between observers at various locations. For example, some say the Moon was brighter than previous eclipses and some say it was darker. The Sky & Telescope website reports that it was brighter and has a comparison pic of last year's eclipse and this one. Their pic of this year's eclipse pretty closely matched what I saw.

 

Is it possible that the viewing location would account for widely varying observation reports of a total lunar eclipse? I can, of course, imagine the effects of light pollution, cloud cover, etc., but even those folks who say they had dark skies and no cloud cover disagree over brightness and color.

 

you would have to know whether these people actually measured the brightness using instruments or if they just fenagled it with sight or even compared pictures.

 

if the former, then you would have to find out about atmospheric conditions. if the latter then it means nothing as human eyes can adapt to adjust apparent brightness and cameras can have different exposure lengths and even the response time of the film/sensor chip would affect it.

[Blue Fire]

After some more research, I found this at Sky & Telescope:

Early Danjon-number estimates that we're getting range from 2.5 to 3. Roger Sinnott, our lunar-eclipse data master, used the reversed-binocular method to get a preliminary brightness estimate at mid-eclipse: magnitude –3.4. (His final value awaits his calibration of how much the binoculars actually diminish light when reversed, done by comparing stars.) In Brazil, experienced lunar-eclipse observer Willian C. de Souza used the same method and got magnitude –2.4 at mid-eclipse, though with cloud interference. John Bortle got magnitude –3.2.

According to NASA [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/Danjon.html]:

The French astronomer A. Danjon proposed a useful five point scale for evaluating the visual appearance and brightness of the Moon during total lunar eclipses. 'L' values for various luminosities are defined as follows:

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 assignment of an 'L' value to lunar eclipses is best done with the naked eye, binoculars or a small telescope near the time of mid-totality. It's also useful to examine the Moon's appearance just after the beginning and before the end of totality. The Moon is then near the edge of the shadow and provides an opportunity to assign an 'L' value to the outer umbra. In making any evaluations, you should record both the instrumentation and the time. Also note any variations in color and brightness in different parts of the umbra, as well as the apparent sharpness of the shadow's edge. Pay attention to the visibility of lunar features within the umbra.

[bold above is mine]I would have rated this eclipse at about L=3.5 because I saw mostly orange and just a tinge of blue on the Moon's edge just after totality began. I can only think that the atmospheric properties/effects directly between an observer (like moisture content, density, etc.) and the Moon do indeed have significant impact on what different observers see, With or WithOut equipment, though I have yet to see any specific explanation in print anywhere yet. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough. On the other hand, it appears to be a valid phenomenon since (from NASA site):

Observers are encouraged to make Danjon brightness estimates and to report them to Sky and Telescope and to Dr. Richard Keen (richard.keen@colorado.edu).