Total Lunar Eclipse: October 27-28, 2004

Total Lunar Eclipse: October 27-28, 2004


Hopefully it will be a clear night I�m going to try and film it with a digital and my web cam and end up with a tiny little orange dot

Live Web Coverage of the Eclipse


The last eclipse of 2004 occurs on the evening of Wednesday, October 27 (in Europe, the eclipse occurs during the early morning hours of Thursday, October 28). This event is a total eclipse of the Moon which will be visible from North and South America as well as Europe, Africa and Antarctica. During such an eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray. More from NASA




A lunar eclipse takes place when the Earth moves in front of a full Moon, casting its shadow on the Moon's surface. There are two parts to the Earth's shadow, the penumbra, and the umbra. The penumbra is the sunlight that passes through Earth's atmosphere. This is not enough to produce a distinct shadow, but will diminish the light reaching the Moon. The penumbra is hard to detect with the unaided eye, so it is recommended to observe the moon as a reflection off of a piece of window pane, or through a pair of sunglasses.




The umbra is the Earth's shadow proper, and makes a distinct shadow on the lunar surface. The eclipse will end when the Moon exits the other side of the penumbra. Many observers are puzzled, why the lunar surface becomes red during a total eclipse instead of black? Consider the fact that some of the Sun's light passes through Earth's atmosphere and is bent around and behind the Earth. Much of this light is scattered as blue light, and never reaches the lunar surface. Only the longer wave-lengths of light(mostly red or orange) will reach the Moon, tinting its surface in a coppery glow.


click the pic, for a link

Posted already, you can find that thread here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

^^^^^^^^ I had no idea about this, not in the news or anything! I'm going to have to take a look tonight. Thanks for the link. ahhhh 1 more post then I'm off for the day