TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE - Tuesday 28th August 2007

For photos of the eclipse click here

On Tuesday 28th August 2007 the Full Moon will disappear when it is high in the sky! This rare event known as a lunar eclipse happens when the Moon moves into the Earth's Shadow. At first a small bite of the Moon will disappear and then the Earth's shadow will progressively cover the Moon until it is completely covered at 9:52pm. It remains covered until 11:22pm when the Moon slowly starts to emerge from the Earth's shadow. At totality the Full Moon often has a beautiful dark orange/red appearance.

On Tuesday night (weather permitting) the Gisborne Astronomical Society will have the Cook Observatory on Kaiti Hill open for members of the public to come and have a look at the eclipse through a variety of telescopes. A $2 donation will be gratefully received for fund raising. Viewing starts at 9pm until about 11pm.

This is the first total lunar eclipse fully visible from New Zealand since 2000 July 16. The next will not be until 2014 October 14, (although we see some of the eclipse of December 2011). So the general consensus is, make the most of this one!

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Lunar Eclipse Diagram - © F. Espenak (www.MrEclipse.com)....................................................Lunar eclipse of June 1993 by John Drummond

Details regarding the eclipse from the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand ( www.rasnz.org.nz ):
Moon enters penumbra 7:52:11 pm
Moon enters umbra 8:50:57 pm
Total eclipse begins 9:52:00 pm
Maximum eclipse 10:37:22 pm
Total eclipse ends 11:22:45 pm
Moon leaves umbra 12:23:50 am
Moon leaves penumbra 1:22:29 am.

LUNAR ECLIPSES (from Microsoft ENCARTA Reference Library)…
The Earth, lit by the Sun, casts a long, conical shadow in space. At any point within that cone the light of the Sun is wholly obscured. Surrounding this shadow cone, called the umbra, is an area of partial shadow called the penumbra. The approximate mean length of the umbra is 1,379,200 km (857,000 mi); at a distance of 384,600 km (239,000 mi), the mean distance of the Moon from the Earth, it has a diameter of about 9,170 km (5,700 mi).
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely into the umbra. If it moves directly through the centre, it is obscured for about 2 hours. If it does not pass through the centre, the period of totality is less and may last for only an instant if the Moon travels through the very edge of the umbra.
A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a part of the Moon enters the umbra and is obscured. The extent of a partial eclipse can range from near totality, when most of the Moon is obscured, to a slight or minor eclipse, when only a small portion of the Earth's shadow is seen on the passing Moon. Historically, the view of the Earth's circular shadow advancing across the face of the Moon was the first indication of the shape of the Earth.
Before the Moon enters the umbra in either total or partial eclipse, it is within the penumbra and the surface becomes visibly darker. The portion that enters the umbra seems almost black, but during a total eclipse, the lunar disc is not completely dark; it is faintly illuminated with red light refracted by the Earth's atmosphere, which filters out the blue rays of sunlight. Occasionally a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is covered with a heavy layer of clouds that prevent light refraction; the surface of the Moon is then invisible during totality.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

REMEMBER...

Public Viewing Nights are held every Tuesday (except Christmas/New Year) at the Cook Observatory. Cost is $2 per person. Please note the following times: Winter - door closes at 7:30pm. Summer - door closes at 8:30pm

We hold a monthly meeting on the LAST WEDNESDAY of each month - except December (where we will have an earlier December end-of-year party) and January (when people are on holiday). Monthly meetings start at 7:30pm and are held at the Cook Observatory, Kaiti Hill, Gisborne (map)...

The NEXT monthly meeting (August) will be: