Watch the partial eclipse of the Moon

Two weeks after the solar eclipse, there is a chance to see a very large partial eclipse of the Moon from the UK and Europe on the evening of Saturday 16 August. The Moon rises over Britain with the eclipse already underway. First contact with the pale outer shadow, the penumbra, takes place at 18:25 UT (7.25 pm BST) when the Moon is still below the horizon for UK observers. When the Moon finally does rise above the southeastern horizon at around 19:30 UT (8.30 pm BST), it is almost wholly immersed in the penumbra. Minutes after moonrise from much of the UK, it begins to enter the main dark shadow, called the umbra. First contact with the umbra occurs at 19:36 UT (8.36 pm BST). By 21:10 UT (10.10 pm BST) the Moon is immersed at its maximum depth in the umbra, leaving a sliver of the northern limb shining in the penumbral light, while more than 80 per cent of the lunar disk has assumed a deep red hue. The Moon is then around 13° above the southern horizon for observers in southern England, in the southern constellation of Capriconus. The Moon finally leaves the umbra at 22:44 UT (11.44 pm BST) and exits the penumbra at 23:55 UT (12.55 am BST). The Earth's shadow is actually composed of two cones, one darker one within the other. To understand the geometry of this, and the difference between the umbra and penumbra, visit this webpage. This will be the deepest lunar eclipse visible from the UK until 15 June 2011. A webcast of the eclipse will be broadcast by noted astronomy author Peter Grego live from St Dennis, Cornwall, between 19:30 UT (8.30 pm BST) and 22:45 UT (11.45 pm BST) at www.lunarobservers.com. You can observe for yourself with the unaided eye but steadily-held binoculars will help you to follow the shadow's progress across the Moon's face. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com • Skymania welcomes your comments on our stories! For more space reading, check out the Skymania stores in the USA, the UK, Canada and France. They are powered by Amazon so you can buy with confidence.

Eclipse of the Moon is widely seen

Hopefully many of you managed to observe the total eclipse of the Moon this morning or last night depending on where in the world you live. Much of the UK was covered with cloud after a run of nights when skies had been crystal clear. Skymania's Paul Sutherland was observing from Broadstairs in South-East England, where Moon was veiled by thin cloud up to a few minutes before totality when thicker cloud completely obscured the view. The photo shown here, as the Moon was about to become completely immersed in the Earth's shadow, was taken at 02.50 UT, using a Canon EOS 300D camera attached at prime focus to a Sky-Watcher 80mm f5 refractor. It was a one-second exposure at ISO 1600. Conditions were clearly much better in other parts of the world and an especially fine webcast of the eclipse was provided by the "Friends of Astronomy" society in Argentina. How was the eclipse for you? Do post a comment to let us know! ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com • Skymania welcomes your comments on our stories! For more space reading, check out the Skymania stores in the USA, the UK, Canada and France. They are powered by Amazon so you can buy with confidence.

Total eclipse of the Moon - Feb 20-21, 2008

A total lunar eclipse this month will be visible from Europe, Africa, western Asia, South America and most of North America. The eclipse occurs when the Full Moon glides through the shadow of the Earth in space. Update: You can view our report and photo of the event here. From Britain, the entire event happens in the early hours of February 21st, meaning you will have to wait up on the night of February 20th. From the USA, it begins during the evening of the 20th. The Moon will travel deep into the Earth's shadow and will turn a deep shade of orange or red - to see how dark or red it actually becomes, we shall have to observe it for ourselves! The Earth's shadow is actually composed of two cones, one darker one within the other. To understand the geometry of this, visit this webpage. The outer, lighter shadow cast is called the penumbra and is where the Earth blocks some of the Sun's light but not all of it. The darker central shadow is the umbra. The diagram above, showing times for the eclipse in GMT, is reproduced courtesy of NASA's "Mr Eclipse", Fred Espenak. (Click on the graphic to view it full-size.) Diagrams for other time zones can be found here. Note that the Moon actually moves into the shadow from the right, although the Moon itself will appear to be crossing the sky in the other direction as the Earth rotates. First contact with the Earth's pale grey outer penumbral shadow occurs at 00:37 UT (37 minutes after midnight GMT), and the Moon is completely enveloped within an hour. Since the penumbra is faint, all that is likely to be noticed during that period is a slight darkening of the Moon's leading (left-hand) edge. At 01:43 UT the Moon makes first contact with the umbra, i.e. it begins to enter the darkest part of the shadow. Totality starts at 03:01 UT, when the Moon is completely immersed in the umbra. Given good conditions, the Moon will be visible with the unaided eye because sunlight is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere onto the Moon, giving it a reddish hue. At some eclipses the Moon appears a bright orange at totality, while at others the Moon assumes a rich brown colour. Totality lasts for 50 minutes, making this the deepest eclipse visible from the UK until June 15th, 2011. At 03:51 UT, the Moon's leading edge emerges from the umbra into the relative brightness of the penumbra, ending totality. During the eclipse the Moon will lie in Leo, close to Regulus and a few degrees away from Saturn. From the UK, the Moon remains fairly high, with an altitude of around 44 degrees at first umbral contact, 33 degrees at mid-totality (03:27 UT) and 18 degrees when it finally leaves the umbra completely (05:09 UT). Steadily-held binoculars are the best instruments with which to enjoy lunar eclipses. Most viewers prefer to gaze at these events without worrying about recording them, but some enjoy noting the definition of the umbra's edge and the colour of the Moon, along with timing the contact between the umbra and certain prominent lunar features. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com • Skymania welcomes your comments on our stories! For more space reading, check out the Skymania stores in the USA, the UK, Canada and France. They are powered by Amazon so you can buy with confidence.

Total eclipse favours the Pacific

The second total eclipse of the Moon of the year occurs this week - but few populated parts of the planet will be able to view the entire show. The Moon's passage through the Earth's dark shadow on Tuesday, 28 August, may be seen in full from the Pacific region stretching from the western half of the USA to the eastern side of Australia. The whole of both countries, plus most of Canada and Asia, will see much of the main event. New Zealand is excellently placed to witness the entire eclipse with the Moon at a decent altitude in the sky. Sadly for those of us on the other side of the world, no part of the eclipse will be visible from Europe. The attached illustration, courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine, shows circumstances for different parts of the globe. More detailed timings can be found at the S&T website or at the site of Nasa's "Mr Eclipse", Fred Espenak. A Nasa team will be taking a special interest in the eclipse. They will watching for meteor impacts caused by comet debris falling from the direction of the Sun. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com • Skymania welcomes your comments on our stories! For more space reading, check out the Skymania stores in the USA, the UK, Canada and France. They are powered by Amazon so you can buy with confidence.

Prime Time eclipse for Saturday night

A total eclipse of the Moon will make prime time viewing for the whole of Britain on Saturday night, March 3rd, and experts say it could be the most spectacular for years. Europe, Africa and the Eastern USA are ideally placed for the event when the Full Moon slowly moves completely into the dark shadow of the Earth. The eclipse will turn its brilliant white light into a magical reddish glow with the Moon shining solely with the sunlight that has been scattered through the Earth's atmosphere and onto the lunar surface. The appearance of the Moon at this time varies according to how much dust there is our own upper atmosphere. Following major volcanic eruptions, eclipses have been such a deep red that the Moon has almost become invisible. But there has not been such an eruption in recent times and so astronomers are predicting that the Moon could have a bright orange glow this time. Ian Morison, of Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, said: "Following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1992, which released large amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, the eclipsed Moon was nearly invisible. As the Earth has not had a major eruption for some years we can expect an impressive sight!" Robin Scagell, Vice President of the UK's leading organisation for stargazers, the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "This is one of the best lunar eclipses from Britain for years. If the clouds stay away, it will be fascinating to watch the Moon's graceful movement through the shadow of the Earth and check its coppery glow." The Moon will actually be entering the normally invisible cone of the Earth's shadow in space from right to left. But the Moon will appear to move from left to right in the sky as the Earth rotates and the Moon moves across the sky. It first enters a band called the penumbra just after 8.18pm but the dimming will then be very slight. If you were on the Moon, the Earth would appear to begin blotting out the Sun at this time. The main eclipse begins just after 21.30UT when the Moon starts to enter the dark central region of the Earth's shadow. By 22.45UT, the Moon will be completely covered and this total eclipse lasts until nearly two minutes to midnight. Totality lasts 1h 13m in all. The Moon will then appear to glide slowly free of the central shadow and it will leave it completely just after 01.11UT on Sunday morning. It then drifts through the penumbra again, leaving that finally just before 02.24UT. Key Times for eclipse: Moon enters penumbra: 20h 18m Moon enters umbra: 21h 30m Totality begins: 22h 44m Mid-eclipse: 23h 21m Totality ends: 23h 58m Moon leaves umbra: 01h 11m Moon leaves penumbra: 02h 24m For full details of the eclipse, including tips on how best to observe it and take photos, see the special page on the SPA website. The photo, by Paul Sutherland, is of a total eclipse of the Moon over Tower Bridge, London, on January 9, 2001. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com