Skygazers hoping to catch the last lunar eclipse of 2010 on Tuesday morning best be ready to stay up late (or wake up very early) to watch the full moon as it goes through a range of dramatic color changes.
The December 21 lunar eclipse is expected to last about three-and-a-half hours from its start as a partial eclipse at 1:33 a.m. ET to its finish at 5:01 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The previous lunar eclipse occurred June 26.
Share your images and video of the eclipse through iReport.
During a lunar eclipse, the moon, the Earth, and the sun align so that the sun's rays are shielded from the moon. An eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full, and only if the moon passes through some portion of Earth's shadow, which is composed of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other.
The start of the total eclipse is expected around 2:41 a.m, when the entire moon passes through the Earth's umbra, or inner shadow, which blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon.
The moon will take on a vibrant red color until 3:35 a.m., according to NASA.
Before and after the total eclipse, the moon will pass through the penumbra, or outer region of the Earth's shadow, where Earth blocks some of the sun's rays, but not all.
The entire event is visible from North America, Greenland and Iceland. Western Europe will see the beginning stages of the eclipse before moonset while western Asia will get the later stages after moonrise. To find out the best viewing times outside of the Eastern Time Zone, check out NASA's page on the December 21 lunar eclipse, and then refer to this handy guide for converting times.
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First the meteor shower and now this! I've found a ton of great viewing information on this site. http://www.spacedex.com/lunar-eclipse – Hope you all enjoy Monday's show!
Interesting: a meteor shower followed by a red moon full eclipse, all on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Maybe the Zombie people have been on to something all along, or the vampires, or who? Maybe I should just lock the doors and stay inside with a silver bullet in my gun and a whole bunch of garlic. Creepy!
Well it looks like need to get the alter ready for another sacrifice. Just kidding. I love these things. So cool to watch.
Pennsylvania weather is a fair bit cold to sit out and watch the entire show. Besides, I have one series of photos from Philadelphia and another from Qatar.
I'll look at them, look out the window or watch it on the news.
Or I'll be out waiting for the spring thaw...
ok, i still dont understand the time conversions when i clicked on the TIME COVERTING CHARTS. simply put, i live in PST time (central california to be more precise )and supposedly its -8hrs? and the whole eclipse beigins around 1am so it will start @ 5pm my time then? but we're also in DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME..so when they say, "add an hour" then it shuld start @ 6pm? im confused. anyone care to simply tell me when it starts my time? like the whole beginning to end please?? i dont wanna miss out on this. thanks.
West coast is three hours earlier than east coast. That means that we will see the eclipse starting at around 10:30 Monday night. Good thing, cause I'm not staying up all night to watch. It's gonna be cool, just not THAT cool.
I live in WA. Same time zone as CA. CA and WA are on standard time now and PST is 3 hours earlier than EST. 1AM EST = 10PM PST
10:33pm until 2:01am your time.
We're not on Daylight Savings Time any more. The -8 you're seeing is at it relates to GMT, which doesn't factor in daylight savings time either. I agree that can be confusing. But it looks like someone else has posted a very accurate timetable for the eclipse, so go with that.
As for the Alaskans, convert it to your time zone also, but you should have a great view of this one, if you can stand the cold.
I thought they defeated Prop 19.
Wow, sorry to see you are our "representative". We haven't had daylight savings in over 6 weeks!
You're kind of an idiot aren't ya?
INCORRECT STATEMENT:
During a lunar eclipse, the moon, the Earth, and the sun align so that the sun's rays are shielded from the moon.
CORRECT STATEMENT
During a lunar eclipse, the moon, the Earth, and the sun align so that the moon is shielded from the sun's rays.
yeah? what's your point?
Same thing.
I get what you mean jumpeddle. I believe you are pointing out something that was of great concern the late, great Frank Zappa, who used to sing, "You can't even speak your own f*&^ing language. You can't read it anymore. You can't write it anymore." I figure since you took the time to craft a missive which I certainly found helpful, that someone should say thanks. Now that our news is delivered by a new generation known for diminished skills in all disciplines, I have a real appreciation for how much I learned from reading articles that were properly written. It was like a free benefit for someone from rural New Mexico. And now it's gone, and the herd can't even understand why this is a very bad thing. Huh???
...and don't get me going about, "an eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full..."
Word! Nice catch haha
Good catch there, jumpeddie !
Everyone hates a pedant.
"an eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full..." True statement. Take an astronomy course before you incorrectly comment again.
YOUR AN IDIOT!!!
Nice to see someone who stills cares about the written English language. The "text" world is contributing to bad habits, like....u instead of you.....4 instead of for, and in general bad spelling being acceptable.
Keep "jumpin' on em" jumpeddie.
A lunar eclipse does only happen when the moon is full. As for the phrasing comment, both would work fine depending on how you look at it. Although the way it is put forth in the article is actually more correct since the rays are actually shielded from the moon by the Earth. Think of it as if you were saying that arrows were shielded from a warrior.
Actually the article is totally incorrect. They are not being sheilded from the moon, they are being stopped from reaching the moon. Taking up the reference to the arrows and the warrior, to "shield" something is to protect it from an onslaught... the moon is not coming after the sun's rays, but the rays are coming after the moon. Just like you aren't protecting the arrow from being attacked by the warrior, but you are protecting the warrior from being damaged by the arrows. It's the exact opposite.
I too believe that they should try for better grammar. Thank you
Far more egregious is the use of the passive voice in BOTH statements. Ack – and it is used in the previous sentence of mine, as well. Oh no, I did it again! Or rather, it was done by me once more!
That's right, jumpeddie.
To all those questioning jumpeddie's knowledge of astronomy when he says that "an eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full..." is incorrect – he's not talking about an error in astronomy, but an error in grammar. The sentence should read "an eclipse of the moon can take place only if the moon is full..." It's the placing of the word "only" in the sentence which is incorrect. By placing "only" before "take place" instead of afterward, the implication is that the restriction is on what the moon can do when it's full, rather than a restriction on the conditions during which an eclipse can occur.
I'll admit that this is one of the more obscure bits of grammar, but don't call jumpeddie's intelligence into question just because you don't understand it.
The Moon is Red?! Quick! Everyone into the volcano!
Nerts gets my vote for Laugh out Loud comment of the night. After reading all the debate on the proper use of the word "shield" I was unprepared for the "Jump into the volcano" exhortation.
Drop some cid, turn on the Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, kick back, and absorb.
I am so there!
Don't forget the doobie....Man..
Whoooooaaaaaaa.....
Amen, now that's my religion...
Druid all the way
*sigh* Baby boomers..
I can dig it, daddy-o!
But don't forget! 1:33AM EST on the 21st is 10:33PM PST on the 20th.
To West Coast Rep.
DST ended at the beginning of Nov. EST is 5 hours behind GMT or UT, which astronomical times are based on. Thus something occurring at Dec 21st, 3:12 a.m. UT, then also occurs at Dec 20th, 10:12 p.m. EST and Dec 20th 7:12 pm PST (as PST is 8 hours behind UT).
So, the eclipse times are:
Moon enters penumbra: . . 12:55 a.m. EST . . . 11:55 p.m. CST . . 10:55 p.m. MST . . 9:55 p.m. PST
Partial eclipse begins: . . . . 1:33 a.m. EST . . . . 10:33 p.m. PST
Total eclipse begins: . . . . . 2:41 a.m. EST . . . . 11:41 p.m. PST
Mid eclipse: . . . . . . . . . . . 3:17 a.m. EST . . . . . 12:17 a.m. PST
Total eclipse ends: . . . . . 3:53 a.m. EST . . . . . 12:53 a.m. PST
Partial eclipse ends: . . . .5:01 a.m. EST . . . . . . 2:01 a.m. PST
Clear skies to you!
How will that impact the NFL games?
We have a shadow!? But the cheese will get cold! Those poor bat men.
well im waiting for the volcanoes it seems in the past they have been known to accur during the eclipse so where do u guys think that this one is going to go off at
If you have never experienced one of these and are lucky enough to have the 22nd off I would strongly recommend it. Only in a total eclipse can you see the moon as a truly 3 dimensional object. It looks like a red ball hanging in the sky. Go for it. You wont forget it. I wish you good weather. and clear skies.
Having the 22nd off won't help THAT much. Having the 21st off, though, would help a great deal.
Cerri-do you work the overnight shift or something? Having the 22nd of, which I do, helps because you can sleep in. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to start watching until the thing is in the already total eclipse part...
Crap-it is essentially the night of December 20th. Too bad everything has to be so East Coast focused. Makes it confusing for the rest of us. Hopefully it won't still be raining.
it said it would be seen from North America but would it be clearly visible in Alaska and at what time would you want to be outside to see it?
So Sarah will be able to see both a red moon and a red country at the same time. Amazing! There are no ends to her abilities.
...yes...and Sarah will be able to see both from her backyard...
I thought Sarah WAS a communist. Her party colors are red too, aren't they?
Yes, it will be visible in Alaska. The eclipse will run from 12/20 8:55pm-1:35am with totality being from 10:41pm-11:53pm Alaska time.
Be advised that penumbral stages of a lunar eclipse are mostly unnoticeable. Don't bother watching until just before the start of the partial phases, because you'll be disappointed by the lack of anything happening. But once the partial phase starts, you'll see the darkening begin. In Alaska the moon does not set at the time of the year, I believe, so if you're there, you can follow the timetable like everyone else.
The moon sets and rises year round in Alaska
@John: So are you the time zone ferry, or what?
Do you mean ferry (as in a vehicle in which to cross a body of water?)or fairy (as in a tiny magical and mythical winged creature such as Tinkerbell)? Just asking, as I'm a bit confused by your statement.
Quiz: How much of the moon can be seen from earth? a.) half b.) more than half c.) less than half. Let's let one of our experts answer.
In theory since the moon is tidally locked to Earth, only half of it should be visible to us, however due to the effects of libration, slightly more than half is actually visible.
Actually, because the moon is much fatter than our heads, we cannot see all the way to the moon's horizon. We can see close, but not all the way. Therefore we can see less than half. If we were on the moons surface, we would see only to our local horizon. That would be a small patch of the moon. If we elevated to 20 miles up, we would see a bigger patch, but much less than half of the moon. 1000 miles up, a much bigger patch, but still not half, because of the slant angle to our horizon. the only way to see exactly half would be to 1) go out an infinite distance. or 2) have our head to be as big as or bigger than the moon, to get our eyes far enough apart to see the full half. So, therefore, we will never see as much as a half. If the moon librates or wiggles, we may see more over time, but never half all at once.
It depends how much lint is in your belly button.
@John,,,actually, the moon is only fatter than *some* of our heads. Have you traveled though the southern states recently? There's a LOT of fat heads down there.
@Moon. Go to Uranus and sit on Uranus.