Total Lunar Eclipse - 21 Dec 10

[mfraser]

Hi all - for those that are interested there will be a total lunar eclipse this evening...........

In Auckland the eclipse will have started before the moon rises and totality starts just after moonrise and will last for a little over an hour. Further south the moon will rise in total eclipse, while the lower South Island will see only the tail-end of the eclipse. The moon will be rising 60° East of due North so the best places to view will be where you have a clear north-eastily view.

Times for Auckland are:
Partial Eclipse Starts--- 7:33pm
Moon Rise---------------- 8:35pm
Totality Starts----------- 8:41pm
Greatest Eclipse--------- 9:17pm
Totality Ends------------- 9:53pm
Partial Eclipse Ends---- 11:01pm

Auckland Astronomical Society Members will have public viewing locations on the beachfronts at Browns Bay Beach, Cheltenham Beach, Eastern Beach and at the summit of One Tree Hill.

In a lunar eclipse the moon is obscured as it passes through the Earth's shadow. A total lunar eclipse only occurs when there is a full moon. Stardome astronomer Dr Grant Christie said the eclipsed moon is likely to appear copper coloured. "This is caused by a scattering of sunlight as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere, removing the blue light and passing mainly the red, some of which weakly illuminates the moon.

Regards,
Mat

[connor]

For all of NZ???

[Charl]

Thanks for the reminder!
I hope Auckland's weather plays the game, it very rarely does...

Connor, if you carefully read Mat's post again you will find out much more...
Interestingly, this one will be visible from the America's too, and much of Australia and Europe.
See http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imaged...edit:+NASA/GSFC

Tonight is also the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice

[Peppermint]

Hopefully the weather is good in ChCh.....never seen an eclipse yet, its always been cloudy when there was one.

[deaneb]

I know the feeling - Blenheim/Marlborough is well known for its clear night sky. In fact many times I've got home at night and looked up thinking there is cloud, only to realise its the milky way in all its glory.
Yet on occasions like tonight (and previous celestial events), the weather has a nasty habit of conspiring against it all. Rain here in Decemeber? - we've had five days straight now - what the heck's up with that !!

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Dec 21 2010, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know the feeling - Blenheim/Marlborough is well known for its clear night sky. In fact many times I've got home at night and looked up thinking there is cloud, only to realise its the milky way in all its glory.
Yet on occasions like tonight (and previous celestial events), the weather has a nasty habit of conspiring against it all. Rain here in Decemeber? - we've had five days straight now - what the heck's up with that !!

You can blame me for that one - I'm president of "Summer Haters Annom"... Love the rain, hate the heat / dry.

[Ian Warren]

1980 i recall , we had a full eclipse mid morning , it was quite unique , the bright normal morning blue turning to a pail gray/blue , even the temp changed , strange things also seemed to go quite .

[AlisterC]

Hmm... large hills to the east, but thanks for the heads up! I might keep an eye out for it! Cheers

[deaneb]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Dec 21 2010, 01:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can blame me for that one - I'm president of "Summer Haters Annom"... Love the rain, hate the heat / dry.

What kind of kiwi do you call yourself !! Jandals, BBQ and 30 degress - now thats a summer !!

[Peppermint]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Dec 21 2010, 01:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can blame me for that one - I'm president of "Summer Haters Annom"... Love the rain, hate the heat / dry.

Where do I sign up?

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Dec 21 2010, 05:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What kind of kiwi do you call yourself !! Jandals, BBQ and 30 degress - now thats a summer !!

To quote Neil from the Young Ones: "Hey man, summer gives you cancer, everyone knows that..."

Anyway, what's to like about summer? Heat you can't escape, flies, mosquitoes, sleepless nights, drought (usually), noisy inconsiderate neighbours and their blasted BBQs ( ), sunburn, nor-westers... shall I go on?

[deaneb]

Well thankfully we live in godzone with a climate where we get seasons and there is something for everybody

[Adrian Brausch]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Dec 26 2010, 06:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To quote Neil from the Young Ones: "Hey man, summer gives you cancer, everyone knows that..."

Anyway, what's to like about summer? Heat you can't escape, flies, mosquitoes, sleepless nights, drought (usually), noisy inconsiderate neighbours and their blasted BBQs ( ), sunburn, nor-westers... shall I go on?

lol,..the TV series grumpy old men springs to mind , ..is ok im one of them too haha, got house across road blasting their freakin stereo most nights grrr,..think my pep talk with them couple nights ago helped as theyve kept it down so far , and don't get me started on mossies ,..faark...

[IslandBoy77]

So, did anyone get to see the eclipse, then? Haven't seen anything in Napier - have been out several times since just before 9 - too much cloud (although is fairly broken)... Bummer.

[deaneb]

Did see it a few brief times between the cloud. Brown / copper in colour, but would have been better to see it when closer to the horizon if it had been clearer.

[IslandBoy77]

It the end, we got a brief view of the moon through thinish cloud about 10 mins after my post. Of course by that time it was only a 3/4 event. Oh well, not like I haven't seen one before - still, looking forward to the next one.

[Charl]

For those that missed it, here are 2 photographs of the event, the first taken at precisely 10:22 as a fleeting gap opened in the cloud base over Auckland:



And then one taken by the ace photographer a moment later, this time with the flash enabled:



The summer solstice hasn't coincided with an eclipse for almost 400 years, and you will not see it again in your lifetime
Remember you saw it first, here.

[Ian Warren]

We had a brilliant clear night in CHCH , we got Mooned on , hey 'Pete' .... " hey guys , ive got six arms , shutup Neil "

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Dec 22 2010, 11:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We had a brilliant clear night in CHCH , we got Mooned on , hey 'Pete' .... " hey guys , ive got six arms , shutup Neil "

Yep, nice one Ian! My fav one is when viv eats the telly...

[ardypilot]

Nice Charl- your flash reaches the moon!

Popped out onto the deck several times to see if I could spot it last night but it there was too much cloud cover. Was even thinking about going down to Eastern Beach where the Astronomical Society were holding a viewing- guess they would have had a telescope or something, but it wasn't worth it.

Another decent pic and story here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4481655/Lu...-blood-red-moon