![]() ![]() This time the Moon will pass fairly deep through the umbra, and at mid-eclipse the Moon's southern limb almost reaches the umbra's center. The center of the umbra is much darker than its edges. The first is simply how deeply the Moon goes into the umbra. Two factors affect an eclipse's color and brightness. ![]() And sometimes it turns brown like chocolate, or as dark red as dried blood. Other times it appears as bright and coppery orange as a fresh penny. On rare occasions the eclipsed Moon does go black. You would see the Sun covered up by a dark Earth that was ringed all around with a thin, brilliant band of sunset- and sunrise-colored light. If you were an astronaut on the Moon, the situation would be obvious. Our atmosphere scatters and refracts (bends) the sunlight that grazes the rim of our globe, sending it into Earth's shadow. That red light you see on the Moon during a lunar eclipse comes from all the sunrises and sunsets that ring the Earth at the time. So why does the Moon here glow deep orange or red, rather than being completely blacked out? The umbra is the part of Earth's shadow where the Sun is blocked from the Moon completely. He shot this picture during the February 2008 lunar eclipse just as totality was beginning, using a Tele-Vue 85-mm refractor as the lens on a Canon 20Da camera 1-second exposure at ISO 400. "This matches the view in my 15 × 50 Canon IS binoculars very nicely," writes Rick Fienberg. Then, after all of the Moon escapes the umbra, the dusky penumbral shading (stage five) gradually fades away, leaving the full Moon shining as brightly as if nothing had happened. Totality ends when the Moon's leading edge reemerges into sunlight, returning once again to a partial eclipse (stage four). Then, as the Moon continues moving eastward along its orbit, events unwind in reverse order. For this eclipse, totality lasts a generous 72 minutes. The third stage, totality, begins when the last bit of Moon slips into the umbra. An hour or so into partial eclipse, only a final bright sliver of Moon remains outside the umbra - and the rest of it shows an eerie reddish glow. In fact, if you're far from city lights, hundreds of additional stars start appearing in what earlier was a bright, moonlight-washed sky. You'll notice that a second, deeper night is falling around you - night within night. You'll soon notice that Earth's shadow has a curved edge - visible proof that the world we live on is round.Īs more of the Moon slides into the umbra, look around the sky. Few sights in astronomy are more eerie and impressive than watching this black-red shadow creeping, minute by minute, across the bright lunar landscape. The second stage, partial eclipse, starts when the Moon's edge reaches the umbra, or Earth's inner shadow. You should be able to detect penumbral shading on the lunar disk about a half hour before the partial eclipse begins and again for a half hour after the partial eclipse ends. Key events and times for December's total lunar eclipse. Not until the Moon's leading edge is about halfway across the penumbra does the first slight dimming become detectable to the eye. But this event is unobservable the shading in the outer part of the penumbra is extremely slight. It begins when the Moon first enters the penumbra, or pale outer fringe, of Earth's shadow. Total Eclipse of the Moon, December 20–21, 2010Ī total lunar eclipse has five distinct stages. An eclipsed Moon is always full, so if the eclipse happens in the middle of the night for your location the eclipsed Moon will be about as close as it can ever be to straight overhead. The Moon will be at the northernmost part of the ecliptic, north of Orion between the feet of Gemini and the horns of Taurus. In East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, the eclipse is already in progress at sunset and moonrise on 21st local date. Observers in Europe, West Africa, and South America will see part of the eclipse before it's interrupted by moonset and sunrise on the morning of the 21st. Unlike a solar eclipse, each stage of a lunar eclipse is visible to everyone on the Moon-facing side of Earth. The partial phases of the eclipse will last for a little more than an hour beforehand and afterward. Pacific Standard Time, as shown in the timetable below. Earth's shadow will totally engulf the Moon from 2:41 to 3:53 a.m. Now the whole continent is in for another on Monday night and Tuesday morning, December 20-21. Europe, Australia, and East Asia can only observe some of it due to the Moon setting or rising. North and Central America see the entire eclipse from start to finish. ![]()
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