STAGE 7
Middle of totality
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 to the north of the center of the Earth’s umbra,
the gradation of color and brightness across the Moon’s disk should be such
that its lower portion should appear darkest, with hues of deep copper or chocolate
brown. Meanwhile, it’s upper 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.
Observers away from bright
city lights will notice a much greater number of stars than were visible earlier
in the night. The Moon will be the constellation of Libra, the Scales with the
ruddy first magnitude star, Antares, shining 15 degrees to the Moon’s east (left).
If you stretch out your arm and make a fist, 15 degrees is about 1.5 fist-widths.
The darkness of the sky
is impressive for rural residents. The surrounding landscape has taken on a
somber hue. Before the eclipse, the Full Moon looked flat and one-dimensional.
During totality, however, it will look smaller and three-dimensional -- like
some weirdly illuminated ball suspended in space.
Before the Moon entered
the Earth's shadow, the temperature on its sunlit surface hovered at 266 degrees
Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius). Since the Moon lacks an atmosphere, there
is no way that this heat could be retained from escaping into space as the shadow
sweeps by. Now, in shadow, the temperature on the Moon has dropped to minus
146 degrees Fahrenheit (99 degrees below zero Celsius). That's a drop of 412
degrees Fahrenheit (229 degrees Celsius) in less than 90 minutes!
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