Archive for the ‘Space’ Category
Lunar Eclipse On Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Source … NASA
The next lunar eclipse is about to take place this Wednesday. The next won’t take place until 2010. The eclipsing will begin around 8:43pm EST with totality taking place at 10:01pm. The moon will continue to darken to the mid-point at 10:26pm with totality ending at about 10:51pm. The moon will continue to be partially eclipsed until about 12:09am.
Unlike a solar eclipse, the moon will not blacken. Because of the atmosphere that surrounds Earth, light from the sun gets stretched around us and casts a reddened glow to its shadow because of dust in the air. Because the dusty air is unpredictable, the shadow may range from an orange to a deep blood red. Some observers of past lunar eclipses have noted a turquoise outline to the red shadow due to the ozone. Look for it near the start and end of totality.
All of South America, most of North America, and parts of western Africa and western Europe will be able to see the eclipse in its entirety. Our Aussie, Japanese, and Korean friends will have to sit this one out. For a complete set of maps and timetables for viewing, see this link here.
