Total Lunar Eclipse - 2008 FEB 20

[Centaur]

A total lunar eclipse will occur during the night of 2008 FEB 20/21. As with any Full Moon, it will be visible from the entire nighttime side of the Earth. Most or all of it will be seen in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

The maximum magnitude in the umbra will be 1.105. That means during totality the greatest separation between the edge of the umbra (dark portion of Earth’s shadow) and the nearest point on the limb of the Moon will be 10.5% of a lunar diameter. The greatest possible magnitude is 1.881.

This will be the last total lunar eclipse until 2010 DEC 21, although there will be three partial lunar eclipses between now and then.

Below are my predictions for the various stages of the event in Universal (Greenwich) Time. I use the French Rule for shadow sizes and know of no other source that takes into account the oblate shape of the Earth.

00:37 UT – Moon enters penumbra (gray fringe shadow)
01:43 UT – Moon enters umbra (dark inner shadow)
02:18 UT – 50% of Moon’s diameter covered by umbra (magnitude 0.500)
03:01 UT – Totality begins (magnitude 1.000)
03:26 UT – Maximum eclipse (magnitude 1.105)
03:51 UT – Totality ends (magnitude 1.000)
04:34 UT – 50% of Moon’s diameter covered by umbra (magnitude 0.500)
05:09 UT – Moon exits umbra (dark inner shadow)
06:16 UT – Moon exits penumbra (gray fringe shadow)

I’ve created graphics that illustrate the stages of the eclipse as seen from Arlington Heights, Illinois and London, England. They should well serve most observers in North America or Europe. They can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Photos and descriptions of the eclipse would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Centaur]

Folks in India, Australia and New Zealand have been asking me if they'll be able to see the upcoming lunar eclipse. Sorry, but the eclipse will occur during daytime for observers at those locations while the Moon is beneath the horizon. :(

[FriedPhoton]

I’ve created graphics that illustrate the stages of the eclipse as seen from Arlington Heights, Illinois and London, England.

Thanks for the details Centaur. I'm in the same neck of the woods. Two of my children were born in Arlington Heights.

(No, I don't want to buy anything, Thank you) :)

[Paradox244]

Would this be visible from the Atlanta area?

[Dave Mitsky]

Would this be visible from the Atlanta area?

Yes (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/image/TLE2008Feb21-Map1.GIF). (The date on the graphic is the UT date.)

http://www.bautforum.com/astronomical-observing-equipment-accessories/69741-february-2008-astrocalendar.html

Dave Mitsky

[Centaur]

Would this be visible from the Atlanta area?

Yes, it will be visible to anyone experiencing nighttime (and clear skies) while the eclipse is taking place. For EST (Eastern Standard Time) either subtract 5 hours or add 19 hours to the UT (Universal Time) timings that I gave in my initial post.

[Centaur]

Joe Guzmán who operates the Chicago Astronomer website will be hosting a public gathering outside Chicago's Adler Planetarium on Wednesday evening February 20 to view the eclipse. Bring your telescope or look through those brought by others.

[HypothesisTesting]

Would this be visible from the Atlanta area?


Lunar eclipses should be visible anywhere on earth where the moon is above the horizon during the progression of the eclipse. At full moon of eclipses, these places should be dark enough

[Robert Tulip]

The eclipse is right next to Saturn. Will it be close enough to Saturn to enable photography of Saturn and part of the eclipse with any detail of the rings?

[Centaur]

The eclipse is right next to Saturn. Will it be close enough to Saturn to enable photography of Saturn and part of the eclipse with any detail of the rings?

That's an excellent question. As viewed from Chicago the centers of the Moon and Saturn will be separated by 3.9° at the moment of maximum eclipse. That’s about 8 lunar diameters. Since you have not given your location, I cannot supply a better figure for you. The Moon is so close that parallax matters. In any event, the low magnification required to get them both in the same field of view would not likely make Saturn’s ring detail apparent. Interestingly for some South American observers, the bright star Regulus will be occulted by the Moon during the initial penumbral phase of the eclipse.

[Robert Tulip]

That's an excellent question. As viewed from Chicago the centers of the Moon and Saturn will be separated by 3.9° at the moment of maximum eclipse. That’s about 8 lunar diameters. Since you have not given your location, I cannot supply a better figure for you. The Moon is so close that parallax matters. In any event, the low magnification required to get them both in the same field of view would not likely make Saturn’s ring detail apparent. Interestingly for some South American observers, the bright star Regulus will be occulted by the Moon during the initial penumbral phase of the eclipse.

Thank you. I live in Australia so will not see the eclipse. Will the sun's rays during totality appear to extend to the position of Saturn? If so it could be a good project for astrophotography to see how Saturn appears during the eclipse tonight.

[Centaur]

Thank you. I live in Australia so will not see the eclipse. Will the sun's rays during totality appear to extend to the position of Saturn? If so it could be a good project for astrophotography to see how Saturn appears during the eclipse tonight.

You’re welcome, Robert. Yes, the Sun’s rays will continue to reach Saturn. Saturn cannot be eclipsed in Earth’s umbra. I’m certain that many folks will photograph the eclipsed Moon and Saturn in a single frame. But as I noted above, the field would be so wide that Saturn will not appear as much more than a dot. Nevertheless, it would be nice to see the images.

It is possible for Earth to transit the Sun as viewed from Saturn. In that case Earth would appear to be a tiny speck on the Sun and would not be cutting off many of the rays otherwise destined for Saturn. I calculate that the next such transit will occur on 2020 JUL 20. The last one was on 2005 JAN 13.

[Maksutov]

Thank you. I live in Australia so will not see the eclipse. Will the sun's rays during totality appear to extend to the position of Saturn? If so it could be a good project for astrophotography to see how Saturn appears during the eclipse tonight.Not sure what you're asking.

If you mean, will the lunar eclipse have some sort of visual effect on Saturn, then the answer is no, since Saturn is located off-axis from the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment.

However, the Sun's rays always extend to Saturn. That's what makes it visible from Earth. Even if the Earth and Moon were directly in front of the Sun, whether during a lunar eclipse or not, there'd be almost no effect of Saturn's brightness, since, as seen from Saturn, the Earth-Moon system would be a tiny dot(s) against the solar disc. Sort of like how there's no appreciable decline in solar magnitude during a transit of Mercury as seen from Earth.

Note: written while Centaur was writing and posting.

[spaceboy0]

Visible from the South Pole? The Sun is not currently visible from the North Pole so I don't believe the Moon is from the South. sorry penguins

[Robert Tulip]

Not sure what you're asking. If you mean, will the lunar eclipse have some sort of visual effect on Saturn, then the answer is no, since Saturn is located off-axis from the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment. However, the Sun's rays always extend to Saturn. That's what makes it visible from Earth. Even if the Earth and Moon were directly in front of the Sun, whether during a lunar eclipse or not, there'd be almost no effect of Saturn's brightness, since, as seen from Saturn, the Earth-Moon system would be a tiny dot(s) against the solar disc. Sort of like how there's no appreciable decline in solar magnitude during a transit of Mercury as seen from Earth. Note: written while Centaur was writing and posting.
Sorry, that was dumb of me. I was confusing with a solar eclipse where the sun's corona is visible around the moon. Of course there is no corona on a lumar eclipse.

[ravens_cry]

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html
I found this website by NASA with these pretty pictures showing how it will be for many timezones. Thought it would be helpful to put it up here, it helped me.

[Centaur]

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html
I found this website by NASA with these pretty pictures showing how it will be for many timezones. Thought it would be helpful to put it up here, it helped me.

Thank you, ravens_cry. While the NASA text does show the timings for different time zones, every one of the diagrams utilizes equatorial coordinates in which celestial north is up. Such diagrams often confuse folks who expect the eclipse shadowing to first and last appear on the Moon at positions other than the ones actually observed. That’s why I create diagrams using horizontal coordinates in which zenith is up.

[ravens_cry]

It will be at the times shown though, right? I think I will be able to find the moon, unless these clouds don't clear up. Dang! we had a clear day yesterday.:(

[Centaur]

It will be at the times shown though, right? I think I will be able to find the moon, unless these clouds don't clear up. Dang! we had a clear day yesterday.:(

Yes, the NASA timings are in agreement with mine. My timings in the first post in this thread utilize Universal (Greenwich) Time. The events will occur at the same real time for all observers, although clocks will read differently in each time zone.

I hope the weather gods are kind to you. The good news here in Chicago is that the sky forecast for the eclipse has been changed from cloudy to clear. Hooray! The bad news is that the projected temperature during the middle of the eclipse will be -1° F (-18° C). Booo! Brrr!

[Centaur]

A beautiful Full Moon can now be seen rising in the eastern sky over Chicagoland. The sky is perfectly clear and will likely remain that way for the night. Hooray! The situation would be perfect here if we could get the temperature to rise above the current 14° F rather than fall to below zero. Brrr!

[spaceboy0]

what f number should I set the camera lens to: f/2 or f/16?

[Centaur]

what f number should I set the camera lens to: f/2 or f/16?

Use the widest possible aperture, which would be F/2 between your two choices. Depth of field is of no consideration when photographing a distant object. The exposure speed will need to vary greatly for different phases of the eclipse.

[spaceboy0]

yet I've heard that if you tune to f/5.6 or f/8 it will reduce coma and lens distortions and give you a sharper image?

[Centaur]

yet I've heard that if you tune to f/5.6 or f/8 it will reduce coma and lens distortions and give you a sharper image?

Perhaps that is true for lesser quality lenses. It's never been my experience with my camera. I have been assuming you will be using a camera mounted on a tripod with no telescopic enlargement other than the camera’s telephoto or zoom lens. The Moon will be moving across the sky due to the Earth's rotation. It will traverse its diameter every two minutes. A wider aperture will allow the use of faster exposure speeds which will reduce blurring due to the Moon's apparent motion.

[deziking]

hey i'm from schaumburg , IL and i got a clear view of the moon, clear skys. I do see a shiny star to the left of the moon i hope thats saturn hehe too bad i don't have a telescope. I'm hoping to see some high quality pictures of this and the saturn!!!

[Centaur]

hey i'm from schaumburg , IL and i got a clear view of the moon, clear skys. I do see a shiny star to the left of the moon i hope thats saturn hehe too bad i don't have a telescope. I'm hoping to see some high quality pictures of this and the saturn!!!

I'm right next door in Arlington Heights. Yes, that's Saturn to the lower left of the Moon. The bright star Regulus is above the Moon.

Right now we're 10 minutes into the umbral phase and 14% of the Moon's diameter is covered by the umbra. Beautiful!

[deziking]

I'm right next door in Arlington Heights. Yes, that's Saturn to the lower left of the Moon. The bright star Regulus is above the Moon.

Right now we're 10 minutes into the umbral phase and 14% of the Moon's diameter is covered by the umbra. Beautiful!

awesome are you taking any pictures ? you have a telescope?

[Centaur]

awesome are you taking any pictures ? you have a telescope?

The room with my computer faces east and I'm looking out the window right now. It's really cold out there. I won't use a telescope. I may take my camera outside for a few mintutes during totality.

[deziking]

The room with my computer faces east and I'm looking out the window right now. It's really cold out there. I won't use a telescope. I may take my camera outside for a few mintutes during totality.

nice! ya its pretty cold, when it gets dark i'll step out side with my shorts. I mean i got like the perfect view its like on top of my house from my back yard. :lol:

[ravens_cry]

Well, I got half my wish, exactly half the sky is almost crystal clear. You can see the line in the clouds. With my luck, the moon will be in the clouds. Clear skies people! I alas do not have a telescope, so I am going to be doing this with the Mark 1 Eyeball, w/glasses, and I don't mean binoculars.

[Centaur]

20:18 CST. 50% of the Moon’s diameter is covered by the umbra. Hmmm, the Earth’s shadow appears curved. Could that mean I’ve been wrong about the Earth being flat?

[deziking]

20:18 CST. 50% of the Moon’s diameter is covered by the umbra. Hmmm, the Earth’s shadow appears curved. Could that mean I’ve been wrong about the Earth being flat?

hehehe its round! anyways will it turn amber red? or is it just in the pictures?

[Hornblower]

We are getting a big break in the weather here in and around Washington, DC. A minor snowstorm just blew out and I am getting a great view.

[Centaur]

hehehe its round! anyways will it turn amber red? or is it just in the pictures?

That's a good question. The Ecuadoran volcano could be a factor that darkens the eclipse. We'll know in about half an hour.

[deziking]

damn its getting dark!!!

and oh ya look out for that satallite lolll

[01101001]

I was just noticing how many users BAUT Forum is currently seeing, and with my super-sleuth abilities I saw about 2/3 of guests were looking at eclipse articles, most of them this one, so I thought I'd give a friendly wave to the maybe new eyeballs here, welcome you, and suggest you consider sticking around if you enjoy scientific discussions of space and astronomy -- after you go out and enjoy the lunar eclipse of course.

Come back any time. Ask questions. Share knowledge.

Space is cool.

[Centaur]

21:01 CST. TOTALITY! Hooray! Isn’t Mother Nature great with her punctuality?

[echobucket]

For those with cloud cover, this site is great. Although it's not loading the picture all the time. :(

http://www.aaaa.org.ar/eclipse/eclipse_eng.html

[neilzero]

It is 10 pm in Jacksonville, Florida 53 degrees f , mostly clear skies. The moon is eclipsed except for a small spot to the south, so I presume peple farther North are seeing total eclipse. Neil

[jlhredshift]

Absolutely awesome!!!!!!

[Centaur]

It is 10 pm in Jacksonville, Florida 58 degrees f , mostly clear skies. The moon is eclipsed except for a small spot to the south, so I presume peple farther North are seeing total eclipse. Neil

Everyone who can see the Moon sees the same fraction of the Moon eclipsed at the same time. However, even during totality there may be a portion of the Moon closer to the sunlight and seeming a little brighter.

[neilzero]

Now the eclipse is total, but the moon is a bit brighter on the South side. Neil

[deziking]

yes anyone taken any pictures?

[Hydro]

It's raining here in Texas. I'm missing it. :sad:

[Rue]

^ I'm making the attempt but not sure how they'll turn out.

[deziking]

man you know something if it was summer i could watch this all night long, just give me a 6 pck and i'm all set.

[neilzero]

There are two bright stars about 3 and 4 moon diameters from the moon. I'll guess 1st and 2nd magnetude. The dimmer star is West of the moon, so I presume it will be much closer before sunrise. The eclipse is still total and looking about the same as 15 minutes ago. Neil

[deziking]

i think one of them is saturn and the other one is saturns moon from what i know.

[Venomiss]

It's cloudy here... I wish it would clear up...:(

[echobucket]

I keep trying to post a link to a neat webcam of the eclipse, but my posts aren't showing up.. I guess maybe I'm just too much of a newbie here or something.

[Rue]

There are two bright stars about 3 and 4 moon diameters from the moon. I'll guess 1st and 2nd magnetude. The eclipse is still total and looking about the same as ten minutes ago. Neil

The bright one to the left is Saturn.

[deziking]

I keep trying to post a link to a neat webcam of the eclipse, but my posts aren't showing up.. I guess maybe I'm just too much of a newbie here or something.

can ya pm it to me or copy and paste it here?

[echobucket]

can ya pm it to me or copy and paste it here?

PMed to you, see if you can post it for everyone else.

[a-l-e-x]

Live webcast of eclipse from cloudy nights forum

http://www.aaaa.org.ar/eclipse/eclipse_eng.html

[Rue]

Write it here phonetically (spell out "dot" etc.) and I'll make it a hyperlink.

[deziking]

i got it to work here it is!

http://www.aaaa.org.ar/eclipse/eclipse_eng.html

[echobucket]

h t t p : / / w w w . a a a a . o r g . a r / e c l i p s e / e c l i p s e _ e n g . h t m l

How's that?

BTW, the server must be getting hammered, because it doesn't load about half the time, but when it does load, it's gorgeous.

[Rue]

http://www.aaaa.org.ar/eclipse/eclipse_eng.html

[Venomiss]

Yeah the heavens are smiling down on me. It's not cloudy anymore. What a beautiful sight!!! It's not total here in NC... unless I missed that because of the clouds?

[Grumplins]

It's an amazing link - thank you !:lol::lol::lol:

[ravens_cry]

I would like to thank the great pumpkin, and the great spaghetti monster for giving me such a beautiful sight.. Still about half the sky is cloudy, buy where the moon is, crystal! I got no telescope, and the only pics I took where with a disposable, no idea what I will see in them. Still, it is beautiful, and I am glad I get to see it.

[Hydro]

Now I can see it! Thanks for the linky.

[Grumplins]

I've been up now for nearly 22 hours and very tired, but I'll stay up for another few hours just in case I can see the moon from my kitchen window. The sky is crystal clear from here (Wales in the UK) but I can't get outside as I've broken my foot and can't move!!! I just hope all you lot keep me in touch...hahaha
BTW one of the satellites have just been shot down !

[badmp3]

yes anyone taken any pictures?

I took some, my first time shooting my camera in the night

so they arent that great .. but u should see it pretty well

This is from Norwalk, CT, USA

http://www.ellatha.com/images/eclipse.asp

:)

[neilzero]

The moon is now about 80% eclipsed. It will be back to normal before dawn. The dimmer star to West is hadly visable due to the bright moon light.
Will we see peices of the spy satellite making shooting stars the rest of tonight? Neil

[Centaur]

Here’s a photo I captured of the lunar eclipse two minutes after maximum totality. It was taken from Arlington Heights, Illinois on 2008 FEB 20 at 21:28 CST. Saturn is toward the lower left and Regulus near the top. A reddish hue is apparent on the Moon. Even though the eclipse was in totality, the lower right limb of the Moon appears brightened because as viewed from that region the Sun would have been barely hidden by the Earth. The coloration and brightening were enhanced by the 0.4 second exposure and F/2.4 aperture.

http://www.curtrenz.com/LunarEclipse.jpg

[spaceboy0]

do you get better results using film or digital?

[Centaur]

do you get better results using film or digital?

I haven't used film for years. I far prefer digital.

[3dknight]

I saw it Los Angeles cleared up it stopped raining!!! The colors was spectacular I never saw a lunar eclipse before.

[Kaptain K]

My apologies to all central Texans. Just got my new scope, so of course it clouded over! :(

[Dave Mitsky]

There was a dusting of snow during the afternoon but the weather gods decided to be kind to south central Pennsylvanians regarding Wednesday night's lunar eclipse. My friend Tony Donnangelo and I observed the lunar eclipse from his backyard using his 102mm f/8 Takahashi FS-102 apochromat, my 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube 80 achromat, and my Celestron Regal 8x42 binocular. I also took some prime focus shots through the Takahashi with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR.

The skies were clear for most of the eclipse, which turned out to be a fairly bright one at totality as predicted. To my eyes, the eclipsed Moon assumed a light orange hue during totality.

I also looked at a few other objects during the event such as M42, the Hyades, Mars, and Saturn.

Dave Mitsky

[Maksutov]

There are two bright stars about 3 and 4 moon diameters from the moon. I'll guess 1st and 2nd magnetude. The dimmer star is West of the moon, so I presume it will be much closer before sunrise. The eclipse is still total and looking about the same as 15 minutes ago. NeilOne is Saturn (the steady one) and the other dimmer one is Regulus, brightest star in Leo.

The Moon moves from west to east in the sky so it will be farther from Regulus as the hours go by.

[Maksutov]

The sky gods decided to give my part of the magnolia state a break in the cloud cover before the rain moved in. So I got to see totality, which, based on 48 years of looking at lunar eclipses, was very bright.

Then conditions deteriorated and resembled this variation on a comic published on July 20, 1963:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9558/eclipse20087tw5.th.jpg (http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eclipse20087tw5.jpg)

[saberscorpx]

Nice night for an eclipse.
Cold but nice, anyway.
I volunteered the services of my 102Mak and 20x80 to assist the local
college planetarium's presentation.
Some 200 hearty souls braved single digit temps and a soft but biting
breeze for the event.
Interestingly, my GLP seemed to generate as much excitement as our rare
celestial alignment. Go figure.

After the crowd thinned out I plugged my binoviewer into the zerbatory's
behemoth C14 for one of my most surreal views of Saturn to date.
I haven't been jawdrop wowed at a scope for awhile- and it felt good.

After clearing our shadow Luna even managed a beautiful 22° halo
as an encore.


Recharged and rejuvenated,
Saber

The Deere planetarium at Augustana College (Rock Island, IL):
http://helios.augustana.edu/astronomy/

[Dave Mitsky]

Here are a few of the prime focus shots that I took through my friend's Takahashi apochromat during the eclipse as previously mentioned. The first took place before totality, the second during totality, and the third afterwards.

Dave Mitsky