Dec 8, 2011

December 10th Lunar Eclipse


I took the above photo at last year's lunar eclipse, also in December.

For North America, the eclipse this weekend will happen as the Moon is setting and the Sun rising. The eclipse will begin around 4:45 in the morning, Pacific time, and will set while in full eclipse.

That part of the sky is tricky for me to see. There's a lava butte in my way. So, if the roads and weather permit, I'll have to get up and drive out to Pine Mountain and watch from Millican Valley ... if I want to use my telescope.

Will depend on the weather. Even if it's not snowing, it's going to be bitter. It's the last lunar eclipse until 2014, however, so I hope I do get to see it.

From NASA:

The Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the southern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 51 minutes. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event are shown in Figure 6. The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:   11:33:32 UT
   Partial Eclipse Begins:     12:45:42 UT
   Total Eclipse Begins:       14:06:16 UT
   Greatest Eclipse:           14:31:49 UT
   Total Eclipse Ends:         14:57:24 UT
   Partial Eclipse Ends:       16:17:58 UT
   Penumbral Eclipse Ends:     17:30:00 UT 
 
For more information see: NASA Eclipse Website 


In other stargazing news, I met up with a fellow star guide up at PMO last Friday night. You can read all about the account at www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ There are photos I took. Moon images were takend with a new filter my wonderful video gal sent to me. And I finally got to see Orion. Woot!