21 December 2010

Eclipse eclipse?

| johnboy
Join the conversation
8

The ABC is very excited about tomorrow evening’s partial lunar eclipse being touted as a spectacular blood moon.

The ABC, however, when faced with gushing astronomers are much like Charlie Brown constantly having the ball whipped away. How many times have they talked us into staring into cold skies at 4am to see nothing at all?

ITWire reckons it’s going to be a fizzer:

This eclipse will be visible for observers in North and South America and to a lesser extent Northern Europe and North Eastern Asia (mainly Japan and surrounding areas) only. Oh, and the great emptiness of the Pacific Ocean will have a great view!

According to the official NASA event information, probably the best place to see the eclipse will be Southern California, but unlike a solar eclipse, anyone who can see the moon while it is in eclipse will have as good a view as anyone else.

Here in Australia, the moon will rise on the evening of December 21st in the very last stages of eclipse; observers may notice a reddish tinge on the upper left portion in the few minutes after it rises. After that, the eclipse is done.

The early hours of 16 June 2011, however, is promised to be a bell ringer. Heard that before.

UPDATE: Sunset tonight is 20:17, followed by full moon rise at 20:22. Quite the conjunction.

(A solstice lunar eclipse should have the witches out though, so keep an eye out)

Join the conversation

8
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

It’s a pity, when I went out to see it the eclipse was already on its last legs. Only about 15% was in shadow.

In other words

+1 Mr Gillespie

So what time can I catch the tail end of the eclipse then???

georgesgenitals12:08 pm 21 Dec 10

“s’why bother posting, george?”

What’s life without whimsy?

Mr Gillespie11:37 am 21 Dec 10

You will only barely catch the tail end of the eclipse when the moon rises tonight. You definitely won’t see a “red ball”. It will be too late.

s’why bother posting, george? some people dig music, some dig interwebs chat rooms, some dig graves and some dig the heavens…

i love me a red ball in the sky – s’only time the moon looks 3-d to me. but i might forego it this time and wait til june, also digging sleep!

It’s a lunar eclipse, not solar.

georgesgenitals3:52 pm 20 Dec 10

I.D.G.A.R.A.

(For all you Patch Adams fans).

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.