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More detail on FR thread Al Qaeda again threatens New York, Washington and Los Angeles
Posted on 11/05/2003 5:04:59 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
PARIS (AFP) - The Moon will turn a shade of red this Saturday when it will be fully eclipsed by the Earth, whose shadow will blot out all but a tiny fraction of solar light, astronomers said.
Total lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are all in alignment and the Moon travels into the broad cone of shadow cast by the Earth.
The Moon does not become invisible, though, because there is still residual sunlight that is deflected towards it by the Earth's atmosphere, most of which is light in the red part of the spectrum.
That causes the Moon to appear as a dark colour, usually a coppery red, orange or even brown.
The Earth's shadow will begin to creep over the Moon at about 2330 GMT on Saturday, Britain's Royal Astronomical Society said in a press statement received here.
The period of total eclipse will be relatively short, lasting from 0106 to 0131 GMT, and the last remnant of the shadow will leave the lunar face at 0305 GMT.
"We are not expecting the Moon to become very dark during this eclipse," the society's spokeswoman, Jacqueline Mitton, said. "It is likely to have a bright rim at its southern edge, which will only just be inside the shadow."
The entire event will be visible from Europe, northern and western Africa and some eastern parts of North and South America.
Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other parts of East Asia will be unable to see it, but regions in between will experience part of the eclipse around moonrise or moonset.
Total lunar eclipses occur roughly every couple of years.
Total solar eclipses happen when the Moon crosses between the Earth and the Sun. The next one of these will take place on November 23, but will be visible only from Antarctica.
Recent image from a Yahoo! Group page.
More detail on FR thread Al Qaeda again threatens New York, Washington and Los Angeles
The eclipse occurs Saturday night, Nov. 8 in the Americas and early the next morning in Europe and elsewhere.
Viewers especially in the eastern United States, many of whom were stymied by clouds during a sister event May 15, will be given another chance to see the Moon immersed completely within the Earth's shadow.***
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