Lunar Eclipse
UPDATE 7:27 PM 2008/02/20: YCAS MEMBERS ARE AT THE OBSERVATORY
February 20th Total Eclipse of the Moon
The York County Astronomical Society Will Host A Free Public Observing Session for the Lunar Eclipse
The last Total Lunar Eclipse visible from the eastern United States until December 2010 will be visible at a public observing session presented by the York County Astronomical Society
Learn the answers to the following questions:
What causes a total lunar eclipse?
How often do they occur?
What can I expect to see during an eclipse?
Myths, rituals and history of lunar eclipses from cultures around the world.
Mark your calendars for February 20th at 7:30PM - Join YCAS Astronomers at their observatory at John C. Rudy County Park for a program highlighting a Total Lunar Eclipse.
The program features:
"The Magic of a Lunar Eclipse"
presented by YCAS member Greg Markowski at 8PM THE
PROGRAM
"The MAGIC OF A LUNAR ECLIPSE"`
WILL NOT BE PRESENTED TONIGHT.
Followed by an outdoors observing session for the eclipse, which begins at 8:05. The Eclipse will last until 12:45am, with the best viewing between 9:00pm and 11pm.
Join us at 7:30 and stay as late as you can.
This is a FREE program and will be offered WEATHER PERMITTING. Call the YCAS Hotline at
(717) 578 - 9109 after 5PM on the day of the event for the latest information.
Dress warm and in layers in order to keep warm during the event.
Hot Chocolate and Tea will be provided.
READ MORE OR LISTEN TO DR. TONY PHILIPS AT NASA: ECLIPSE
CHECK OUT JACK HORKHEIMERS SITE: ECLIPSE
For: Directions to the Observatory
Use this Eclipse computer for your location:
According to folklore, a full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or sometimes the "Blood Moon." It gets its name from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. You can picture them: silent figures padding through the forest, the moon overhead, pale as a corpse, its cold light betraying the creatures of the woods. At first it will seem pale and cold, as usual. And then ... blood red.
What makes the eclipsed moon turn red? The answer lies inside Earth's shadow, Our planet casts a long shadow. It starts on the ground--Step outside at night. You're in Earth's shadow. Think about it!--and it stretches almost a million miles into space, far enough to reach the moon.
Suppose you had a personal spaceship. Here's your mission: Tonight, at midnight, blast off and fly down the middle of Earth's shadow. Keep going until you're about 200,000 miles above Earth, almost to the moon. Now turn around and look down. The view from your cockpit window is Earth's nightside, the dark half of our planet opposite the sun. But it's not completely dark! All around Earth's limb, the atmosphere glows red.
What you're seeing is every sunrise and sunset on Earth--all at once. This ring of light shines into Earth's shadow, breaking the utter darkness you might expect to find there. Turn off the cockpit lights. There's a lovely red glow.
That same red light plays across the moon when it's inside Earth's shadow. The exact color depends on what's floating around in Earth's atmosphere. Following a volcanic eruption, for instance, dust and ash can turn global sunsets vivid red. The moon would glow vivid red, too. Lots of clouds, on the other hand, extinguish sunsets, leading to darker, dimmer eclipses. Courtesy of NASA by Dr. Tony Phillips