Lunar Eclipse
Saturday, March 03, 2007
LONDON (AP) - The moon will turn shades of amber and crimson Saturday night as it passes behind the Earth's shadow in the first total lunar eclipse in three years.
The eclipse will be at least partly visible from Asia to the Americas, although those in Europe, Africa and the Middle East will have the best view. Lunar eclipses occur when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. The event is rare because the moon spends most of its time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.
Although it will pass completely under Earth's shadow, light from the sun will still reach the moon after being refracted through Earth's atmosphere, giving the moon an eerie dark reddish tinge.
Earth's shadow will begin moving across the moon at 3:18 p.m. EST Saturday, with the total eclipse occurring at 5:44 p.m. EST and lasting more than an hour.
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Not sure how much of this we will be able to see but its something to keep your eye out for tonight. I have seen them in the past and they are really cool, lets hope we don't get some crazy cloud cover that blocks what chance we have to see anything. If we get a good sighting I will try to take some real pics or possibly some video footage....
Posted by mardenhill 3/03/2007 09:28:00 AM
Labels: Science
