By now you’ve probably heard about the lunar eclipse tomorrow night. Lunar eclipses are great; they last a long time, so there’s no hurry, you don’t need crystal clear skies (the clearer the better, of course), and you don’t need a telescope! Just your eyes will do, though having binoculars is better. I actually prefer them over using a telescope.
The event will be visible pretty much everywhere in the US, Canada, South America, and western Africa and Europe. Orbiting Frog has a ton of info, including a nice animation of what to expect. Sky and Telescope has info as well (including a diagram with times listed for the west coast of the US, if that helps). But here’s the rundown:
The show starts for real around 01:43 Universal Time (CAREFUL HERE! That’s 1:43 a.m. on Thursday morning in England, but that’s Wednesday night for the United States. Check to see what your local offset is from Universal Time; for example, in Boulder we are UT – 7, so the eclipse starts here at 1:43 a.m. UT – 7 hours = 6:43 p.m. local time Wednesday night. But don’t trust me– do this math for yourself!).
You may read that the eclipse starts an hour or so before that, but if you look you probably won’t see anything. Earth casts a dark shadow surrounded by a much lighter one, called the umbra and penumbra, respectively. When the Moon enters the penumbra you’ll hardly notice, but when it enters the umbra at 01:43 it’ll look like a bite is taken out of it.
1 hour 20 minutes later (03:00 UT) the Moon will be totally engulfed in the Earth’s shadow. It may take on a brown or reddish appearance, depending on various factors like pollution in our atmosphere. Sometimes the Moon turns blood red, and it’s really amazing. I have found that the Moon appears to really be a globe when this happens; I assume it’s an illusion of some kind but the effect can be overwhelming.
The totality phase of the eclipse will last for about 51 minutes, and then it will start to leave the umbra, and you’ll see a bright crescent begin to form. By 05:10 UT it’ll all be over, and the Moon will look normal again.
I plan on being at The Little Astronomer’s school, since they’re hosting a party in the parking lot to see it. There are no doubt viewings all over the place, so call your local astronomy club, museum, or even news station to see what’s going on in your area.
This is the last total lunar eclipse for the US until very late in 2010, so I hope you get a chance to see it!
February 19th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Unfortunately, here in Connecticut we’re likely to be completely clouded out. The weather is supposed to be clear in southern Vermont/New Hampshire, however.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
The weather looks OK for the second half of the event here in gool ol’ Charlottesville. The wife has scheduled something for her to do that evening, so hopping in the trusty Element and hot-footing it to Monterey or Green Bank is out of the picture.
I’ll set up my mount and polar align it tonight and cover it with a plastic bag (a bit of rain -is- expected tomorrow) so it’ll be ready for the scope and Nikon D70 to get what I can get. I’d like to get the whole thing, images every 15 minutes or so, but it might be cloudy early on. I’ll have to keep an eye on the Clear Sky Clock and hope for clear skies.
Here’s Fred Espenack’s great lunar eclipse photography site:
http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html
This will get any photographers out there started on the right foot!
Rich
February 19th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“Sometimes the Moon turns blood red, and it’s really amazing. I have found that the Moon appears to really be a globe when this happens; I assume it’s an illusion of some kind but the effect can be overwhelming.”
Red tinted glasses are used in several sports to enhance depth perception. Shooters say it helps them gauge the range of a target better. Now it’s probably just be an optical illusion but you’re not the only one to notice it.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Yeah, it’s supposed to cloud over here in TX too
. Clouds and eclipses are not my friend. This is the second or third time it’s happened to me.
As for the red/illusion discussion, the human eye has trouble percieving depth in blue light. It’s one reason things look so washed out under natural moonlight (aside from just the low light levels in general). It would make sense that red light would have somewhat the opposite effect.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
“I have found that the Moon appears to really be a globe when this happens; I assume it’s an illusion of some kind but the effect can be overwhelming.”
Does that mean that the moon is actually… flat!?!? OMG! The BA’s gone over to the dark side… of the moon!
February 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
The highest hit counts I got for all my various YouTube videos was for the Lunar Eclipse as seen FROM THE MOON (last time we had one). Maybe I should do another as the U.S. will be more visible in it this time?
February 19th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Looks like we’ll be clouded out in Phoenix, too. Current forecast is for heavy cloud and 70% chance of rain.
I’ve got a 12 inch Dobsonian that I was going to take to our astronomy group’s star party. I’m still hoping that the forecast changes – otherwise, when I take the lens cap off, my telescope becomes an expensive rain gauge.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
They’re hosting a party, at 1:43AM ? Wow, that’s a helluva school. Wish I’d gone to one that went to that much effort. It’s actually very impressive. There’s hope for American science yet…..
February 19th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Ha! Here in Southern California the viewing will be typically fantas- what?
Clouds?
RAIN?!?!? Who ordered *that*?
Oooooo, someone’s gonna get the hurt taken to them…
February 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
@ Overstroming
That’s 1.43am Thursday UT (Universal Time). At this time of year that matches GMT or UK time, which is several hours ahead of the US.
At the school party Phil’s attending, the good part of the eclipse starts at 6.43pm Wednesday night. Much more civilised…
February 19th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
@Overstroming-
The eclipse is 1:43 am UT. Here in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, that’s a nice, reasonable 6:43 pm, with the peak between about 8:00 and 8:30 pm.
Here’s hoping the weather is reasonable, too.
Oh – and in the online edition of our local newspaper, some nutjob is posting every bible quotation he can find about the blood-colored moon and impending Armageddon. Yep, the world’s gonna end tomorrow night. Repent now.
Sigh…it never ends.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Here in the Great Northwet the sky has been beautifully clear and blue for the past two days. Now, of course, the clouds are starting to roll in, returning us to our normal dreary gray. Nuts.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Phil, would you care to comment on the “Columbus” tale?
Is it possibly true or perhaps in question?
The tale is being reported as factual at several sites, including this one:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080218/top_news/space_astronomy_eclipse_moon_2
The moral of the story seems to be that science beats superstition, and in some cases, one having scientific knowledge can scare the living excrement out of one who does not have such knowledge.
According to the story:
*****
And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504.
Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies.
Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504.
He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.
The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon — which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Cool, thanks BA. I’ll try and stay up late for it ;D
February 19th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
One of the great things about lunar ecclipses is that as the moon gets dimmer, all the starts that are usually washed out reappear. So don’t just look at the moon.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:47 am
[...] the way As an astronomy buff, I would feel amiss not to mention the Total Lunar Eclipse tonight, be sure to check it [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 6:17 am
[...] is tonight/tomorrow morning’s lunar eclipse which has been mentioned by Dave, Tom, Will, Phil, The Jodcast, and Rob. The eclipse is visible between 01:43 am UT and 05:09 am UT tomorrow morning [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Crappy weather meant i saw nothing here in South Africa
February 20th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Did NASA make a boo-boo? Or was it BA?
From APOD: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080220.html
“Tonight’s eclipse is the last total lunar eclipse until December of 2010.”
Did they mean the last one visible from the United States, as you state, and not there will be none at all until then?
February 20th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Steve13:
Lucky for you, you looked 24 hours too early. Try again tonight.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_lunareclipse.htm
February 20th, 2008 at 8:39 am
A lunar eclipse is my favourite astronomical phenomenon. A solar eclipse is disappointing because you can’t look at it and what is there to see? Meteor showers have been a continuing disappointment unless it’s a perfectly clear night with zero pollution.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Geoff:
Solar eclipses are great. You just need to know how to look at them. I still remember one as a kid (a quick search shows it to be the one of 7-Mar-1970) where we got about 95% totality. We had a telescope with a solar filter, allowing a great view. Now, if only the Moon had passed about 10 minutes later, we would have had totality.
I’ve seen plenty of lunar eclipses (yet they’re still not boring), yet only a few solar eclipses, and most came nowhere near totality.
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/SEplot1951/SE1970Mar07T.GIF
February 20th, 2008 at 9:41 am
As I understand it, lunar eclipses can only happen during a full moon. So does that wreak havoc on the circadian rhythms of werewolves?
February 20th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
[...] (Wednesday, February 20) there will be an excellent total Lunar eclipse available for your viewing pleasure. Don’t miss it! This is the last one until 2010, and it’s quite a nice one too, at just [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
This blog – as numerous other web stories – misses key aspects of the total lunar eclipse experience: find out more at what they don’t tell you …
February 20th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
[...] on over to Bad Astronomy for more technical information from someone who actually knows what he’s talking [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
[...] & Telescope or, for the subscription-impaired, online at the S&T website. Also check out bad astronomy and orbiting frog for [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
[...] Lot’s of great links with more info can be found over at The Bad Astronomer. [...]
February 20th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
IT’S HAPPENING! IT’S REALLY HAPPENING!!! RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE!
Why aren’t my kids as excited as I am?
February 20th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Bah, totally socked in here in Denver. >:(
February 20th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I just stepped outside to take a look and — the Moon is TOTALLY GONE. It’s amazing. It’s awe-inspiring It’s, um, completely overcast.
Dang.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Grr, Austin Texas is completely clouded over. Crickets are chirping, humidity is way up, think I will retire to the hot tub with a bourbon and a cigar.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Jacksonville, NC
The moon is a lovely shade of burnt sienna. Little cool and breezy here, so we’re bundled up. Intermittent high clouds, but nothing disastrous.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
P.S. Funniest thing.
The neighbors were out on the porch with a cheap digital camera taking pictures. They were unhappy that the pictures weren’t turning out all blown up and zoomed in and beautiful like from a telescope.
So they turned on the flash.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Lovely eclipse. But with clear comes cold and I felt my toes getting frost bite and the telescope went a bit nutty. I’m going back to watch part 2.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Wow. Just..wow…
I spent my whole life living in Western NY, and just recently (less than a year ago) moved to NE of NYC for work.
As such, I resigned myself to missing every major celestial event..from meteor showers to eclipses..you could count on cloudy skies each and every single time. I haven’t been able to see a significant celestial event in more than a decade..
Tonight was forecast to be cloudy..what a surprise, I miss out again..
Well, (YaY) they were wrong..
Crystal-clear skies and I have been snapping pictures left and right (digital..not so good for night shots..will know how well I did when I go through them, t’morrow).
I am currently messaging with my son, 350 miles away, and he is astounded at this event.. At age 17 (his b-day is t’morrow), he’s never seen such an event..and, as he puts it, is “in awe” of the eclipse..
Heck..my ex-wife went out to look, with him, and thinks it’s the most incredible thing she’s ever seen..
That noted, I have to say that I need to thank you, Phil.
You made comment that, when the moon went red in an eclipse, it gave the impression of a globe..
Well, I stepped outside at totality, under a blood-red moon and went “holy hell!!!!!”
The moon was not a disc,, It was a globe..and the appearance was VERY strong.. I told my son to step outside, and his response was stronger than mine..
After more than 10 years of missing out, t’night was incredible..both for me and my son..
I know you don’t control the universe..but. thank you..
Your heads-up made for a great day, for me..
Everyone else, hope you enjoyed the show as much as did I..
February 20th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I got a few quick looks at it from Longmont, CO (not all that far from the Bad Astronomer himself). Unfortunately, that’s about it — the clouds were in the way most of the time. Someone who wasn’t aware there was an eclipse might not have really noticed anything unusual.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I have two photos on my blog, here is the link.
http://vuku.at/2008/surf/lunar-eclipse.html
February 20th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Here’s a shot I took of the eclipse, no clouds caught deep reds, atmospheric blue band, and white full-on sunlight. Enjoy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyngyrz/2281163420/
February 20th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I live in San Jose, CA and while the lunar eclipse was intercepted by clouds and rain, luckily I’d shot my first lunar eclipse previously in August. The images were shot with my Canon 10D at 300mm, various exposure times… i was up all night! 6 hours and about 1000 photos. I’ve posted some of the best via the link.
http://www.eloph.com/dev/events.asp
Canon 10D, 300mm, f/5.6, ISO 1600, ~2 sec
Tom
February 21st, 2008 at 12:18 am
Typical UK, about 10 minutes after the end of the show, i.e. 05:10 UT, the thick low clouds started to vanish and after another 10 minutes or so there were only a few narrow bands left here and there. Ironically, for the next hour I was walking home in a direction that kept the moon in front of me and could see it in all its usual glory except for the odd blink behind the very occasional narrow band of cloud. Oh well, maybe next time I’ll be luckier with the weather. In the meantime I will just have to enjoy it vicariously through the photos others have taken, so thanks in advance to all those who upload their shots.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:33 am
Here in Dallas… I am typing this at 3 am in the morning…My 9 month old has been up with my wife since 1 am and has been acting absolutely “nuts”. Stretching, flailing himself all over the bed and talking up a storm. He has never done this before. I myself woke up at 2 am and although tired, I cannot stop thinking about anything and everything! Is there any science data that would support these types of effects from such a lunar event?
Thanks,
Sleepless in Dallas
February 21st, 2008 at 6:43 am
There was a thin veil of cloud during a good portion of it, I’m hoping I was able to take some decent photos. I have a small telescope which was fun to watch the eclipse through — my binoculars are far too heavy to hand-hold, but I have a couple of eye pieces for the telescope which make it quite easy to view and follow the eclipse. I have a small digital camera and had to get creative with trying to take photos. I hope they came out; I haven’t had the chance to dump them onto the computer yet. When the eclipse was ending, I had to go to bed. I stayed up far past my bedtime. I hate having to be responsible!
February 21st, 2008 at 8:39 am
I thought I would miss out too with clouds and sleet (as forecasted) but I really lucked out.
I wish I had a Lens fitting to a MEADE (I wish I had a MEADE period) for my camera. Anyway I managed to fish out the best and put them in a set on my flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris1051/sets/72157603950943346/
One thing I thought was cool, and correct me if I am wrong people, but I was zoomed in at a focal length of 200mm and I used a 1/13 exposure and when zoomed in to this picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris1051/2281180700/
(view at original size by clicking on “All sizes” at the top of the photo in flickr) if you look in the lower left at Saturn, you can see the rings’ shadow!
I believe that is awesome. No telescope. (makes me want one even more) And my favorite planet
February 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
[...] details of the lunar eclipse are explained much better here. Needless to say it was cold, the sky was fairly clear, and I still need more practice with my [...]
February 21st, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Here where I live in Delaware, it was very clear. Except right at totallity, when the clouds covered for ten minutes, which was unlucky.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
It was pretty clear here up until about 11pm in Connecticut. Here is a image shot through my 120mm refractor.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidmass/2282194805/
February 24th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I NEED TO ASK A QUISTION?
:) 
DOES AN ECLICPE AFFECT
PREGNET WOMEN??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE’
ANSWER
February 24th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
HAS IT BEEN PROVEN SCIENCETIFICLY????
;0 
=) 
:0
U KNOW IS IT TRUE???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I was in Puerto Rico on the beach when it started, I can tell you with the warm wind blowing, the Full Moon over head, the tropical music in the background, and the waves crashing on the shore, I will NEVER forget this Lunar Eclipse, it will always be a part of me. Im from Michigan, was in Puerto Rico on Feb. 20th, 2008 for just a week and cought this. hello, and I just wanted to share my beautiful story. Thanks.