Feb 20 2008
Lunar Eclipse Wednesday Evening
Even those scientifically challenged folk could enjoy a glimpse of a cool phenomenon known as a lunar eclipse which is essentially when the Moon moves in between the Earth and the Sun resulting in the Moon’s appearance changing to an orange or red colour. More details as reported by John Goddard in The Toronto Star:
The moon is to appear high in the southern sky when the Earth’s shadow begins to travel across the lunar surface from left to right at 8:42p.m. Total eclipse is to last from 10p.m. to 10:51p.m., with the moon emerging from shadow at 12:09a.m. Unlike a solar eclipse, no special eye protection is necessary to watch the event, caused when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon.
Once completely in shadow, the moon is illuminated only by light diffracted in the Earth’s atmosphere. “As it goes into shadow, the moon a lot of times will turn a coppery red or orange colour,” said Brian Cheaney, who teaches astronomy in schools under the name Cosmic Connections.
“What’s neat about that is that the brightness of the colour tells us a little about the atmosphere here on Earth,” he said. “We had a very bright eclipse last Aug. 28. The moon was bright, orangey red, meaning the atmosphere was clear, which is a good thing.”
One last note, if you miss this one then you’ll have to wait until December 2010 to see it again.
link (Toronto Star): read full Toronto Star Article