OT: Lunar eclipse tonight

Post by Chakolate
There's supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tonight, with a totality
starting at around 7 pm, CDT, which I think is 11pm UT. It's going to be a
short one, because the moon will pass through only an edge of the earth's
shadow, but that means 45 minutes of interesting colors.
I hope everybody else enjoys it, because, as is our policy during all
interesting astronomical events, Chicago is socked in. (Couldn't see the
Leonids last year, no aurora, no bright Mars, no lunar eclipse. Poor me.)
</whine=off>

Thank you for the heads up. Someone screwed up, because it's supposed to
be a clear night here in NJ - we miss most of the interesting asto. events
too. Hubster, Dogs and I plan to be outside around 8 PM EST howling at the
moon...

FurPaw

--
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

To reply, unleash the dog.

Chakolate

2003-11-08 19:48:39 UTC

Post by FurPaw
Thank you for the heads up. Someone screwed up, because it's supposed
to be a clear night here in NJ - we miss most of the interesting asto.
events too. Hubster, Dogs and I plan to be outside around 8 PM EST
howling at the moon...

Be sure to post and torture me with how nice it was, okay?

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Jette Goldie

2003-11-09 21:07:18 UTC

Be sure to post and torture me with how nice it was, okay?

the BBC website has a nice collection of photos of the eclipse
taken by folks around the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3255285.stm

--
Jette Goldie
***@blueyonder.co.uk
Apache and Dakota
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/kitties.html

FurPaw

2003-11-09 21:17:54 UTC

Post by Jette Goldie

Be sure to post and torture me with how nice it was, okay?

the BBC website has a nice collection of photos of the eclipse
taken by folks around the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3255285.stm

Thanks, Jette. What I saw looked very similar to #5, except the yellow
sliver was on the lower right instead of the lower left.

FurPaw

--
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

To reply, unleash the dog.

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 23:42:48 UTC

Post by Jette Goldie

Be sure to post and torture me with how nice it was, okay?

the BBC website has a nice collection of photos of the eclipse
taken by folks around the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3255285.stm

Thanks, Jette. What I saw looked very similar to #5, except the yellow
sliver was on the lower right instead of the lower left.

Yep. Looked like #5 as it was coming out of the eclispe - as the shadow was
leaving.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

Chakolate

2003-11-09 21:29:14 UTC

Post by Jette Goldie
the BBC website has a nice collection of photos of the eclipse
taken by folks around the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3255285.stm

Thanks! That was great. I especially liked the one with the kid in it.

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Sue and Kevin Mullen

2003-11-08 21:07:23 UTC

Yes, for a change we have clear weather. We also plan to be outside at
8:06pm est, if we don't freeze first(grin).

sue

Chakolate

2003-11-08 21:16:00 UTC

Yes, for a change we have clear weather. We also plan to be outside at
8:06pm est, if we don't freeze first(grin).

Be sure to go out from time to time as soon as it gets dark. Totality is
cool, but so is the spectacle leading up to it.

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Sue and Kevin Mullen

2003-11-08 21:21:24 UTC

Yes, for a change we have clear weather. We also plan to be outside at
8:06pm est, if we don't freeze first(grin).

Be sure to go out from time to time as soon as it gets dark. Totality is
cool, but so is the spectacle leading up to it.

I will just have to get out my fake fur coat and bundle up!! I am hoping
that I can see some of it thru our skylights, but will spend time
outside anyway.

sue

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-08 21:23:26 UTC

Yes, for a change we have clear weather. We also plan to be outside at
8:06pm est, if we don't freeze first(grin).

Be sure to go out from time to time as soon as it gets dark. Totality is
cool, but so is the spectacle leading up to it.

One (or two?) total lunar eclipses ago I could see it really well from the
window at the bottom landing of my staircase - didn't need to go out into
the cold. Let's see what happens this time... off the top of my head, can't
think just where in the sky the moon will be at 8:00 pm.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

Priscilla Ballou

2003-11-08 21:43:55 UTC

Yes, for a change we have clear weather. We also plan to be outside at
8:06pm est, if we don't freeze first(grin).

Yes, isn't it COLD? I rushed around getting the last herbs potted and
in and the water dish plugged in to keep it from freezing. My fingers
were numb inside my work gloves, and I was positively shivering!

I am so glad I hooked up that heated kennel pad.

You know, next year maybe I'll put a teeny tiny camera in there with a
light and a cable into the house. Hmmmm. Heh heh.

Priscilla, who wants to really be sure they're snuggled up safe and warm

Frankenmel

2003-11-09 05:34:01 UTC

Date: 11/8/03 11:45 AM Pacific Standard Time

We got in on the last 20% or so of it. Very impressive!

Sharon........Don't think of it as getting hot flashes.
Think of it as your inner child playing with matches.

Jette Goldie

2003-11-08 19:48:26 UTC

It's currently overcast and spitting with rain here in south
central Scotland - the *start* of the eclipse is due at 22.15
GMT, the totality between 01.06 and 01.30 - so if the moon
turns to blood tonight, unless the clouds part *suddenly*
in the next few hours, we won't see it.

But that's SOP. Like the solar eclipse this year in June -
the only time that day the sun didn't show was at sunrise
when the eclipse was due to happen,

--
Jette
"Work for Peace and remain Fiercely Loving" - Jim Byrnes
***@blueyonder.co.uk
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

Deborah

2003-11-09 01:29:01 UTC

On 8 Nov 2003 19:18:32 GMT, Chakolate

You can only speak for yourself. For us, in southwestern BC, the
eclipse runs from 3 pm to 10 pm, with the full eclipse starting at
5:05 pm PT. We have clear skies where I live, and we can see it fine.
First time in my whole life though. We don't usually have clear skies
when this event happens.

Deborah

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 01:42:21 UTC

Post by Deborah
On 8 Nov 2003 19:18:32 GMT, Chakolate

When I first looked out at 7:20, the moon was already slightly more than
half in shadow. It's a nice clear night here, too, & I can see it out my
front & side windows, but did go outside around 8:00. Chilly out there
tonight!

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

Chakolate

2003-11-09 03:27:59 UTC

Post by Deborah
On 8 Nov 2003 19:18:32 GMT, Chakolate

Post by Chakolate
There's supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tonight, with a
totality starting at around 7 pm, CDT, which I think is 11pm UT.
It's going to be

Post by Deborah

Post by Chakolate
short one, because the moon will pass through only an edge of the
earth's shadow, but that means 45 minutes of interesting colors.

You can only speak for yourself.

Yes. Hence the addition of CDT to the 7pm.

Post by Deborah
For us, in southwestern BC, the
eclipse runs from 3 pm to 10 pm, with the full eclipse starting at
5:05 pm PT. We have clear skies where I live, and we can see it
fine. First time in my whole life though. We don't usually have
clear skies when this event happens.

When I first looked out at 7:20, the moon was already slightly more
than half in shadow. It's a nice clear night here, too, & I can see
it out my front & side windows, but did go outside around 8:00.
Chilly out there tonight!

What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 03:33:56 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

Deborah

2003-11-09 03:48:50 UTC

On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 22:33:56 -0500, "Cathy Friedmann"

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.
Cathy

That's how it looked to me, too. With some reddish brown tones.

But it's all over now, and it's 7:45. So our newspaper was wrong to
say it would continue until 10 pm.

It was cool, anyway. I'm glad I finally saw a lunar eclipse. But it
raised a lot of questions in my mind. Our "year" is the length of the
earth's orbit around the sun, right? Is our "month" the length of the
moon's orbit around the earth?

Our "day" is the length of the earth's revolution around its own axis.
But what is our "week"? Is that just a biblical thing that comes from
"on the 7th day God rested" (the sabbath)? Or what?

Anybody know?

Deborah

Chakolate

2003-11-09 03:54:59 UTC

Post by Deborah
It was cool, anyway. I'm glad I finally saw a lunar eclipse. But it
raised a lot of questions in my mind. Our "year" is the length of the
earth's orbit around the sun, right? Is our "month" the length of the
moon's orbit around the earth?

No, a month is an artificial construct. The moon's revolution is about 28
days, and there are about 13 of them in a year.

Post by Deborah
Our "day" is the length of the earth's revolution around its own axis.
But what is our "week"? Is that just a biblical thing that comes from
"on the 7th day God rested" (the sabbath)? Or what?

Another artificial construct. Some areas have a ten-day, some a 14-day
(fortnight), and some just go by how many full moons there have been.

The 24-hour day is also an artificial construct.

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Susan

2003-11-09 15:20:56 UTC

x-no-archive: yes

Post by Deborah
That's how it looked to me, too. With some reddish brown tones.

It was very red, here, according to the newspaper and the pic of it. I only
saw the beginning of it, on my way to a movie.

Susan

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 16:33:19 UTC

Post by Deborah
On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 22:33:56 -0500, "Cathy Friedmann"

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.
Cathy

That's how it looked to me, too. With some reddish brown tones.
But it's all over now, and it's 7:45. So our newspaper was wrong to
say it would continue until 10 pm.

It didn't become total till about 8:10 - 8:15 here (east coast US, middle of
NYS). Maybe 30 - 45 minutes later I checked again, & it was reversing - a
portion of the moon was looking bright again.

Post by Deborah
It was cool, anyway. I'm glad I finally saw a lunar eclipse. But it
raised a lot of questions in my mind. Our "year" is the length of the
earth's orbit around the sun, right?

Right, although it's off by Œ of a day, which explains leap year every 4th
year, as a catch-up.

Is our "month" the length of the

Post by Deborah
moon's orbit around the earth?

Yes, sort of. The moon's arbit is 28 - 29 days, so our calendar months are
longer than the moon's real month (except for Feb.), which is why the full &
new moons (well, & other phases) don't occur on the same days each month.

Post by Deborah
Our "day" is the length of the earth's revolution around its own axis.

Well, close - its rotation on its axis. Rotation = spin, revolution =
orbit.

Post by Deborah
But what is our "week"? Is that just a biblical thing that comes from
"on the 7th day God rested" (the sabbath)? Or what?

This one I don't know. I just assumed that it was the length of the moon's
orbit split equally into 4 parts.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

Post by Deborah
Anybody know?
Deborah

Chris Malcolm

2003-11-09 19:08:22 UTC

Post by Deborah
Is our "month" the length of the
moon's orbit around the earth?

Post by Deborah
Our "day" is the length of the earth's revolution around its own axis.

Well, close - its rotation on its axis. Rotation = spin, revolution =
orbit.

Post by Deborah
But what is our "week"? Is that just a biblical thing that comes from
"on the 7th day God rested" (the sabbath)? Or what?

This one I don't know. I just assumed that it was the length of the moon's
orbit split equally into 4 parts.

In other words, the time between the four obvious-to-the-eye aspects of
the moon -- new, half full, full, half empty, and back to new.

--
Chris Malcolm ***@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Sue and Kevin Mullen

2003-11-09 03:55:49 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on the
moon went behind the clouds.

sue

FurPaw

2003-11-09 04:08:17 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red, sometimes
other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on the
moon went behind the clouds.

It didn't cloud up here until after the main part of the eclipse was over.
It was really beautiful - at its peak, the moon was copper-colored, with
a very thin sliver of a yellow edge (it must not have been completely total
here). After its peak, however, the moon was just dark gray.

I'd never seen a lunar eclipse after its max. When I was a kid, my dad
would haul me out of bed to see them, but it was usually two or so in the
morning, and so we stayed out just long enough for the moon to get
completely in the earth's shadow, but not long enough to see it come out.

FurPaw

--
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

To reply, unleash the dog.

Chakolate

2003-11-09 05:16:10 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red,
sometimes other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on
the moon went behind the clouds.

It didn't cloud up here until after the main part of the eclipse was over.
It was really beautiful - at its peak, the moon was copper-colored, with
a very thin sliver of a yellow edge (it must not have been completely
total here). After its peak, however, the moon was just dark gray.
I'd never seen a lunar eclipse after its max. When I was a kid, my
dad would haul me out of bed to see them, but it was usually two or so
in the morning, and so we stayed out just long enough for the moon to
get completely in the earth's shadow, but not long enough to see it
come out.

Thanks, Furry, that was a nice description.

Chakolate

--
On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 16:35:51 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red,
sometimes other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on
the moon went behind the clouds.

It didn't cloud up here until after the main part of the eclipse was over.
It was really beautiful - at its peak, the moon was copper-colored, with
a very thin sliver of a yellow edge (it must not have been completely
total here). After its peak, however, the moon was just dark gray.
I'd never seen a lunar eclipse after its max. When I was a kid, my
dad would haul me out of bed to see them, but it was usually two or so
in the morning, and so we stayed out just long enough for the moon to
get completely in the earth's shadow, but not long enough to see it
come out.

Thanks, Furry, that was a nice description.

No fair - she got better colors than I did!, & is only a bit (relatively
speaking) farther south.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

FurPaw

2003-11-09 17:16:40 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red,
sometimes other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on
the moon went behind the clouds.

It didn't cloud up here until after the main part of the eclipse was over.
It was really beautiful - at its peak, the moon was copper-colored, with
a very thin sliver of a yellow edge (it must not have been completely
total here). After its peak, however, the moon was just dark gray.
I'd never seen a lunar eclipse after its max. When I was a kid, my
dad would haul me out of bed to see them, but it was usually two or so
in the morning, and so we stayed out just long enough for the moon to
get completely in the earth's shadow, but not long enough to see it
come out.

Thanks, Furry, that was a nice description.

No fair - she got better colors than I did!, & is only a bit (relatively
speaking) farther south.

We have more pollution down here. We get some great chemical sunsets, too.

FurPaw

--
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

To reply, unleash the dog.

ajiko

2003-11-09 17:59:19 UTC

Post by Chakolate
What color was the moon in total eclipse? Sometimes it's red,
sometimes other colors.

Plain ol' dark gray.

About 6:30 or 7:00pm est, we saw some red around the moon. Later on
the moon went behind the clouds.

It didn't cloud up here until after the main part of the eclipse was over.
It was really beautiful - at its peak, the moon was copper-colored, with
a very thin sliver of a yellow edge (it must not have been completely
total here). After its peak, however, the moon was just dark gray.
I'd never seen a lunar eclipse after its max. When I was a kid, my
dad would haul me out of bed to see them, but it was usually two or so
in the morning, and so we stayed out just long enough for the moon to
get completely in the earth's shadow, but not long enough to see it
come out.

Thanks, Furry, that was a nice description.

No fair - she got better colors than I did!, & is only a bit (relatively
speaking) farther south.

We have more pollution down here. We get some great chemical sunsets, too.

Ah! The benefits of modern living! ;-)

Cathy Friedmann

2003-11-09 18:48:31 UTC