Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Super Blood Moon Sunday Night

  1. #1
    Frozen Chosen A.J.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    8,050
    Thanked: 6088

    Super Blood Moon Sunday Night

    Saturday, September 26, 2015, 3:24 PM - A rare perigee lunar eclipse will grace our skies on the night of Sunday, September 27 - what some are calling a 'super blood moon.' Here's why it's special, plus a look at viewing conditions and how to watch it from anywhere in the world.

    As the NASA video above details, the night of September 27 will give us a view of a fairly rare event.

    Not only will this be a total lunar eclipse, when the full moon passes directly through the darkest part of Earth's shadow, but

    It will be visible, in its totality, from all of North America,

    It is happening on the same night as the closest full moon of the year - the 'perigee' full moon, and

    It is the final total lunar eclipse in a string of four - a tetrad.

    Visible from all of Canada

    Barring any cloudy skies that may block our view, this total lunar eclipse - at least in its totality - can be seen from coast to coast.

    Here are the start time and finishes for the most visible portion of the eclipse - when the Moon turns red as it passes through the darkest part of Earth's shadow - for locations across Canada.

    or anyone who wishes to watch the eclipse from start to finish - from when it slips into Earth's penumbra until it exits fully out the other side - this will only be possible from Manitoba to Atlantic Canada, as the moon only rises after the eclipse has already begun in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

    In Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes (and regions of the territories to the north of there), head outside roughly an hour prior to the start time and stay out for another hour afterward to catch the entire event.

    From Saskatchewan (and northward), the moon rises at around 6:47 p.m., just 20 minutes before it enters the umbra.

    In Alberta and B.C., the moon will already have begun passing through the umbra as it rises, however both regions will still be able to see the eclipse at totality.

    The rest of North America, all of South America, western regions of Europe and Africa, as well as anyone on or above the Atlantic Ocean will also have a spectacular view of the event.
    Watch it for yourself

    As with most of these skywatching events, seeing them with your own eyes, from your backyard or a nearby Dark Sky Preserve, is certainly the preferred way. However, while the astronomy part is definitely cooperating to give many a great show, the meteorology may not be so accommodating for some.

    WATCH BELOW: Meteorologist Scott Sutherland runs through the latest updated cloud forecast for Sunday night, for North America, South America, western Europe and west Africa - those regions where people will be able to view the eclipse for themselves.

    Watch it live from anywhere in the world

    If rain or clouds end up blocking your view of this eclipse, or if you happen to be in a part of the world that won't have a good vantage point to see it, there's still hope!

    The Slooh Community Observatory is hosting a show via the web, starting at 8 p.m. EDT, to highlight this Rare Mega Harvest Moon Eclipse. Hosts Paul Cox and Bob Berman - along with a special guest appearance by me, Scott Sutherland - will be online from start to finish, featuring views of the eclipse from numerous sites across this half of the globe, including locations in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and even a live report from Stonehenge.

    Stay tuned for more updates on this event in the days to come!
    What can we expect to see? >Go to website for graphics<

    While these are extremely useful for timing when to view the event, they do not give a complete picture of exactly what the eclipse will look like from the ground.

    As the moon tracks across the sky, it will be rising higher and higher above the horizon and moving from east to west. It is on this trajectory that the moon encounters Earth's shadow, which sweeps across the Moon from left to right, as shown in the video clip from Science@NASA below: >See website for video<

    Be sure to watch the entire video from Science@NASA, detailing this rare perigee moon lunar eclipse, at the bottom of the story.
    Where to watch

    Although this eclipse will be visible from all of Canada, and most regions of the country appear to have mainly clear skies for the event, there are some special events, hosted by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and various local astronomy societies, planned for the public to attend: >See website for list for Canada<

    While long, this list is far from complete. If you know of an event in your area that is not mentioned above, feel free to post it in the comments below. Also, check with your local astronomy club or observatory to see if there is an event planned.
    'Supermoon' Eclipse

    Some years ago, astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term "supermoon" to denote when a full or new moon occurs when the moon is "within 90 per cent of its closest approach" - about 361,000 kilometres according to Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, or roughly 4,600 kms away from the absolute closest approach it makes during an orbit. Based on this not-so-scientific metric, there are typically six supermoons every year.

    However, this particular full moon and total lunar eclipse are occurring at a slightly more special time of the year than just a supermoon.

    The September 27 total lunar eclipse coincides with 2015's perigee full moon - the absolute closest full moon we'll see for this year - at just 356,876 kms away.

    According to records, this is the closest full moon since March 2011, and there will be an even closer one in November of 2016, although neither of those will involve an eclipse at the same time.

    At this distance from us, the moon will appear around 14 per cent wider than it does at its farthest (apogee).

    he next time there will be a a perigee total lunar eclipse visible from North America, it will be the morning hours of October 8, 2033, which will also be the final eclipse of a tetrad.
    Completing the Tetrad

    The September 27 eclipse marks the completion of a Lunar Tetrad - four total lunar eclipses in a row.

    Although some periods have gone by with no tetrads at all, when they do occur there can be up to eight in a century. The 20th century saw 5 tetrads, and the tetrad of 2014-2015 is the second of eight total between 2001 and 2100.

    The first three eclipses of this tetrad took place on April 15 and October 8 of 2014, and April 4 of 2015. While they have all been visible from at least part of North America, only the April 15, 2014 eclipse, and the upcoming eclipse on September 27, are visible coast to coast.

    For this tetrad, there has been some controversy, as the April 2015 lunar eclipse appeared to just miss being a total lunar eclipse by an astronomical hair's breadth.

    The problem came from the fact that Earth is not exactly round, but is instead an oblate spheroid - like what happens when you press a ball from both sides. Some calculations used to figure out the shape of the umbra apparently assumed a circle, thus may have shown a total eclipse when Earth's shadow actually didn't completely cover the moon's surface.

    According to Sky & Telescope magazine, however, more modern calculations used to figure out the magnitude of the eclipse showed that it was borderline. Three different values for the extent of the umbra were used, based on over 20,000 observations since the mid-1800s - the mean or average value of 86.9 km, the median or middle value of 85 km, and the modal value (the one that shows up most often) of 78 km. By the mean and median values, it was a total lunar eclipse, however by the modal value it wasn't, by an extremely tiny margin.

    For observers, they noted that the very edge of the moon was still showing as grey/white, so many counted it as "barely partial" rather than total. However, the umbra combines colours ranging from dark red at the centre to bright blue at the edges. This is due to the colours of the different layers of the atmosphere, as seen from space, as light from the sun filters through those layers and is focused into the umbra by the curvature of the planet. Thus, the tiny sliver of the moon that appeared grey/white may have simply been shaded by the bright blue light filtering through the upper levels of the atmosphere.

    The conclusion of the Sky & Telescope article, though: "We'll probably never know."

    http://www.theweathernetwork.com/new...e-world/57500/

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to A.J. For This Useful Post:

    Femme* (09-27-2015), FresnoJoe (09-26-2015), krystian (09-26-2015)

  3. #2
    I'm going to try to catch it, it eclipses around 10pm in Michigan but there's a small chance of rain.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to krystian For This Useful Post:

    FresnoJoe (09-27-2015)

  5. #3
    Senior Member Nikos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    12,927
    Thanked: 7617
    Blog Entries
    49
    I saw it. Beautiful!

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to Nikos For This Useful Post:

    FresnoJoe (10-04-2015)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Be prepared for breakdowns with an extended service plan for your Honda. Plans are available for Honda models including the Honda Civic.