Moony Monday!

.....I said "Moony Monday" for the Total Lunar Eclipse that will occur early Tuesday morning because I couldn't think of anything that went with Tuesday. The universe is not rewarding this, however, since there is a winter storm warning with 5-8 inches of snow on the way, finishing up with frozen rain. I hope someone else out there gets a chance to see this.

.....To see this, all you need is a good view of the skies (from the Americas, and best set up for North America). If you have a telescope, or even binoculars, that will make things even better, but it isn't necessary.

The first stage is when the Moon enters the Earth's penumbra, the shadow where part of the Sun, but not all of it, is blocked. This will be pretty much undetectable. The Moon enters the penumbra at: 11:46 PM (CST/ UT -6, which is 12:46 AM Tuesday in the Eastern Time Zone, and 10:46 PM in Mountain Standard Time, and so on.)

.....The Moon enters the umbra, the central shadow at 12:51 AM (again, CST, the best time zone) , and totality, with the Moon entirely in the umbra from 1:57 AM to 3:14 AM. On Earth, a total eclipse is completely dark, but in a lunar eclipse the light passing through the Earth's atmosphere is scattered into the shadow. In the same way that the sky appears blue because blue light is scattered first, and the setting Sun appears red because red light is scattered last, the totally eclipsed Moon will appear a deep red, sometimes getting so faint that the full &^$%&^% Moon is hard to find in the sky.

.....The Moon leaves the umbra at 4:17 CST, so the party is then pretty much over.

.....Since this lunar eclipse happens on the Winter Solstice (when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky), the Full Moon (exactly on the opposite side of the sky) will be at its absolute maximum possible highest. I'm honestly fairly amazed that no group has come forward claiming some mystic significance for the occasion. There is definite non-mystic significance, because this is the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America until April of 2014.

.....If you do get a chance to see it, please let me know; I'll be watching the snow fall, grading final exams.

An apology

.....Wow, looking at the time that has gone by, while I very much want to provide a blog that is aimed at those who might not be in the middle of the country with years of experience, I've first gotta go with my teaching responsibilities. Still, I am working toward building up a "Year around the Sky" to start in May. I will still be updating this as often as I can.