 |
|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Total Lunar Eclipse Jan. 9 for Europe, Africa, Asia
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
08 January 2001
|
More stories A total lunar eclipse, visible from all of Europe and most of Africa and Asia, will occur Tuesday, Jan. 9, darkening the night sky enough to make stars more noticeable and possibly turning Earth's only natural satellite into a dull, blood-colored orb.
Weather permitting, residents of northeastern Canada, plus those in the United States northeast of a line running roughly from Philadelphia to Rochester, New York, will see the tail end of the show. "Observers in the northeastern United States will be able to see the final stages of the partial phases just as the Moon rises at sunset," said Fred Espenak of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In New York City, the Moon rises at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and the partial eclipse, already well underway by then, will end at 4:59 p.m. EST, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory (see additional times at the bottom of this story). Residents of Baltimore and Washington D.C. are just outside the viewing area. Canadians in the following provinces will see a total eclipse just as the Moon rises: Labrador, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and eastern Quebec. Other parts of Eastern Canada will see a partial eclipse. Some Australians and most Alaskans will be able to catch a total eclipse. Next Page: Eclipse times, plus the science behind it ~ About lunar eclipses Scientists note that unlike solar eclipses, an eclipse of the Moon is entirely safe to watch.At the height of the event, the Earth's shadow will totally block sunlight from the Moon for 62 minutes. The Moon shines, and is visible from Earth, only because it reflects light from the Sun. Anywhere from zero to three lunar eclipses -- either partial or total -- occur each year. They are only possible during a full Moon. But because the Moon's orbit is tilted with respect to Earth's orbit around the Sun, lunar eclipses do not occur at each full Moon. The Earth, Moon and Sun all have to be on the same plane for an eclipse to occur.Eclipses begin and end with a phase called "penumbral," when a partial shadow is cast; this phase is not visible to the casual viewer, however. It is the "umbral" phase, when either a portion or all of the Moon is darkened by Earth's shadow, that gets the attention of most viewers. Those fortunate enough to see a full lunar eclipse will likely witness the Moon turning an orange or reddish color when it is in complete, or total eclipse. This is caused by sunlight that is scattered through Earth's atmosphere. The next total lunar eclipse in North America will be May 16, 2003. Live on the Web A Japanese amateur astronomy group plans to broadcast the eclipse live on the Internet. Cameras will show real-time video and still images from six vantage points around Japan. | Universal Eclipse Times | Eclipse times in Universal Time, or UT, which is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time:
18:42 Partial begins
19:50 Total begins
20:52 Total ends
21:59 Partial ends | The webcast will start at around 1 p.m. EST (18:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and end at about 5 p.m. EST (22:00 GMT). Multimedia software is needed to view the webcast (RealPlayer 8, Windows Media Player 7 or QuickTime Player 4. See a link to the webcast near the top right of this page). Local U.S. times Below are moonrise times (EST) for select Northeastern U.S. cities, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. In each location, the visible portion of the partial eclipse will be winding down at these times, and will end at 4:59 p.m. EST. 4:15 p.m. Augusta, Maine 4:28 p.m. Boston 4:45 p.m. New York City 4:52 p.m. Rochester, NY 4:52 p.m. Philadelphia
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
advertisement
