Lunar Eclipse Images by Bill Kramer and Vic
Stover
Table of Contents:
Lunar Eclipse January 20, 2000 Timing
The Total Lunar Eclipse - January 20, 2000
During the evening hours of January 20, 2000 and early morning hours of January 21, 2000 a lunar eclipse will be visible from North and South America. During this time, the moon will slip into the dark umbra shadow of the Earth and will disappear in the night sky. The full moon will be a dark red and brown color for over an hour and then slowly reappear over the next hour. If we have clear sky, many colors of orange and red can be seen as the light from the Sun is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere and shines on the moon.
Time specifics for the Eclipse (note these times are in Universal Time and the date for them is January 21, 2000).
Local Circumstances (Central Ohio)
| Time | Azimuth | Altitude | |
| 1st contact | 10PM | 108 | 50 |
| Total start | 11PM | 125 | 60 |
| Total end | 12:30AM | 170 | 69 |
Totality will last 1 hour and 18 minutes. The northern half of the moon will be more immersed in the Umbra shadow of the Earth. As a result it will appear darker than the southern half of the moon. It is said that one can see over 40 different shades of orange and red during a lunar eclipse. This one will present a wide variation in colors. At an altitude of 50 to 70 degrees you should have no problem locating a suitable observing spot. A very dark site is not needed, but to fully appreciate all the color variations you should be in a place where your eyes become dark-adapted.
Data adapted from F.Espenak, NASA/GSPC
When will the next lunar eclipse be visible in Ohio? - May 16, 2003
Where is a good place to see the eclipse this time? - Almost anywhere. It will be high in the sky and except for the darkest portion of eclipse it will be easy to spot, even from a light polluted located. However, the best place to see the eclipse will be from a dark area with a good view to the South-East and South. In Central-Ohio Perkins Observatory will be open for "Friends of Perkins" members only however CAS members with telescopes are always welcomed! Another good place for CAS members will be the dark sky site in South Eastern Ohio as well as other places affording minimal light pollution. But for most people, the simplest answer to this is to go outside between 10PM and midnight to see the partial then total phases of the eclipse.
Why isn't there a lunar eclipse every time there is a full moon? - The moon's orbit is inclined relative to the ecliptic (apparent orbit of the sun) by 5 degrees. The moon is only a half-degree in size and the shadow (umbra) is one and a half degrees in size. The moon must be within three-quarters of a degree of the ecliptic in order to have a lunar eclipse. With a deviation of five degrees that means that most full moons appear when the moon is more than the minimum distance from the ecliptic.
Why does the Moon appear orange, red, and brown? - Light traveling through the atmosphere of the Earth is refracted. The light that gets refracted is the slim amount that goes through the atmosphere and never hits the ground or water. The light travels though the atmosphere and is bent like a prism so that a spectrum is cast into space. The red portion of the sunlight is refracted more than the blue and thus the moon takes on a reddish glow. Towards the center of the umbra there is less refracted light and this is why the moon is very dark there.
How fast does the moon move? - During an eclipse, the relative motion of the moon is quite visible to the observer. Especially with a telescope focused on a crater at high power. The moon moves at about one half of a degree per hour in the sky relative to the background stars.
Photographing the lunar eclipse - Eclipse-Chasers.Com
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse
©1999-2000 Bill Kramer - Eclipse-Chasers.Com