Vincent Norby's Eclipse Alert
Greetings, fellow denizens of Planet Earth and Festung Europa viewers worldwide! I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of tomorrow evening's total lunar eclipse, which can be viewed in total in Europe, but is already in progress at moonrise in North America.
According to my calculations, those in the middle of North America may just catch the end of totality at moonrise, which of course, occurs at sunset, as a total eclipse only happens when the moon is full. East coast viewers in North America may see a bit more of totality, which should also be at moonrise.
At Festung Europa, the times for the eclipse are as follows:
1st contact (start): 21:16 CET
2nd contact(start of core shadow): 22:30 CET
3rd contact (totality): 23:44 CET
Middle of totality: 00:21 CET
4th contact (end of totality): 00:58 CET
5th contact(end of core shadow): 02:12 CET
6th contact (end): 03:25 CET
Let's hope that the weather here in Central Europe cooperates. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but Sunday should be sunny, so I am crossing my fingers that we will have clear skies by tomorrow evening.
Please submit your viewing reports as a comment on this post, noting especially the colour and darkness of totality. May you have clear skies and happy viewing, my friends!
Yours truly,
Vincent Norby
Past President, Ames Astronomical Society
According to my calculations, those in the middle of North America may just catch the end of totality at moonrise, which of course, occurs at sunset, as a total eclipse only happens when the moon is full. East coast viewers in North America may see a bit more of totality, which should also be at moonrise.
At Festung Europa, the times for the eclipse are as follows:
1st contact (start): 21:16 CET
2nd contact(start of core shadow): 22:30 CET
3rd contact (totality): 23:44 CET
Middle of totality: 00:21 CET
4th contact (end of totality): 00:58 CET
5th contact(end of core shadow): 02:12 CET
6th contact (end): 03:25 CET
Let's hope that the weather here in Central Europe cooperates. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but Sunday should be sunny, so I am crossing my fingers that we will have clear skies by tomorrow evening.
Please submit your viewing reports as a comment on this post, noting especially the colour and darkness of totality. May you have clear skies and happy viewing, my friends!
Yours truly,
Vincent Norby
Past President, Ames Astronomical Society
Comments
The moon, even during totality, had a quite bright rim at 12 o'clock, which transitioned from dark grey to a coppery red as one moved to 6 o'clock. Through binoculars, I noticed a small star at the 5 o'clock position during the eclipse, as well as a brighter star at 8 o'clock, although farther away than the first one. I will attempt to identify these when I get my computer up and running again, thus having access to Starry Night Pro Plus 6.0.
Interestingly, the planet Saturn, the heart of the Lion, Regulus, and the full, eclipsed moon were almost lined up in a straight line.
I would be interested in any comments from viewers in North America.
DMSR