Are you going to look up and check out the eclipse tonight?
I plan on checking it out, it should look pretty interesting. Has anyone ever tried taking pics of anything in the sky at night? I'm curious if the
pic would come out, probably not enough light and I doubt a flash would help in that situation.
MSNBC
No enthusiastic sky watcher ever misses a total eclipse of the moon. And the spectacle is often more beautiful and interesting than one would think.
During the time that the moon is entering into and later emerging from out of Earth�s shadow, secondary phenomena may be overlooked. To help prepare
for Saturday night�s eclipse, here is a chronology, including some of the things you might expect to see.
msnbc.com...
THE STAGES OF THE ECLIPSE
1. Moon enters penumbra (5:15 p.m. ET): Earth�s shadow cone has two parts: a dark, inner umbra, surrounding by a lighter penumbra. The penumbra is the
pale outer portion of the Earth�s shadow.
2. Penumbral shadow begins to appear (6:14 p.m. ET): Now the moon has progressed far enough into the penumbra so that it should be evident on the
moon�s disk.
3. Moon enters umbra (6:33 p.m. ET): The moon now begins to cross into Earth�s dark central shadow, called the umbra.
4. 75 percent coverage (7:43 p.m. ET): With three-quarters of the moon�s disk now eclipsed, that part of it that is immersed in shadow should begin to
very faintly light up, similar to a piece of iron heated to the point where it just begins to glow.
5. Less than five minutes to totality (8:01 p.m. ET): Several minutes before (and after) totality, the contrast between the remaining pale-yellow
sliver and the ruddy-brown coloration spread over the rest of the moon�s disk may produce a beautiful phenomenon known to some as the �Japanese
Lantern Effect.�
6. Total eclipse begins (8:06 p.m. ET): When the last of the moon enters the umbra, the total eclipse begins. How the moon will appear during totality
is not known. Some eclipses are such a dark gray-black that the moon nearly vanishes from view. At other eclipses it can glow a bright orange.
7. Middle of totality (8:19 p.m. ET): The moon is now shining anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times fainter than it was just a couple of hours ago.
Since the moon is moving well to the south of the center of Earth�s umbra, the gradation of color and brightness across the moon�s disk should be such
that its upper portion should appear darkest, with hues of deep copper or chocolate brown. Meanwhile, its lower portion � that part of the moon
closest to the outer edge of the umbra � should appear brightest, with hues of reds, oranges and even perhaps a soft bluish-white.
8. Total eclipse ends (8:31 p.m. ET): The emergence of the moon from the shadow begins. The first small segment of the moon begins to reappear,
followed again for the next several minutes by the Japanese Lantern Effect.
9. 75 percent coverage (8:55 p.m. ET ): Any vestiges of coloration within the umbra should be disappearing now.
10. Moon leaves umbra (10:05 p.m. ET): The dark central shadow clears the moon�s right hand (western) limb.
11. Penumbra shadow fades away (10:24 p.m. ET): As the last, faint shading vanishes off the Moon�s right portion, the visual show comes to an end.
12. Moon leaves penumbra (11:22 p.m. ET): The eclipse �officially� ends, as it is completely free of the penumbral shadow.