|
At about 4 this morning I thought I saw a lunar eclipse.
At first I thought I was on drugs, but then I realized I don't take drugs.
Next I figured it was clouds blocking the moon, but then the sky was cloudless, and how often do you have perfectly round clouds that block the light from the moon and make it look like an eclipse. I noticed the eclipse at about 4 am when I got up this morning. The eclipse seemed to end about 5 am. As it got light out I noticed that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so the moon certainly wasn't being blocked by clouds. I just googled lunar eclipse and yes the newspapers are reporting an eclipsed this morning. Last week there was a cool solar eclipse where the moon blocked the sun. Tomorrow there is another eclipse where Venus will block the sun. It's called Venus in transit. Partial lunar eclipse in the Pacific: a bite out of the moon By Jason Samenow (AP) Early this morning along the West Coast (and after sunset in Asia), the southern part of the full “Strawberry moon” passed before the northern part of Earth’s shadow. The result? The first (partial) lunar eclipse of 2012. The eclipse veiled 37% of the moon’s surface. Along the West Coast, the eclipse began at 3 a.m., peaked 4:04 a.m., and ended at 5:06 a.m. (source: NASA). “The eclipsed moon, hanging low in the west at daybreak on June 4th, will seem extra-large to U.S. observers east of the Mississippi,” said NASA (see video). The eclipse wasn’t visible for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast as the moon had already set. Much of the East Coast also missed out on the annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse two weeks ago for the same reason. Space.com notes lunar eclipses always precede or follow solar eclipse within two weeks: The moon travels halfway in its orbit around Earth in that time, forming another straight line with our planet and the sun. (In solar eclipses, the moon blots out the sun, while lunar eclipses occur when Earth’s shadow covers all or part of the moon.)
Partial lunar eclipse: Earth to obscure full moon Monday morning June 4, 2012 | 1:55 am A partial lunar eclipse will occur before sunrise and be viewable from California and the Western Hemisphere A partial lunar eclipse will occur before sunrise Monday and be viewable from California and the Western Hemisphere; it will also be viewable Monday evening in eastern Asia and Australia. The partial eclipse of the moon will begin at 3 a.m. PDT, reach its peak at 4:04 a.m., and end just after 5:06 a.m., according to calculations by NASA. The East Coast will see the eclipse at the same time -- it begins at 6 a.m. EDT, peaks at 7:04 a.m., and ends at 8:06 a.m. New England, however, will miss the show, which will occur after moonset there. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the moon, which reflects sunlight onto the Earth at night, travels into the path of the Earth’s shadow. Weather permitting, the view of the current eclipse is expected to be particularly exquisite on the East Coast, where it will be happening just as the moon sets in the west. It will be low on the horizon, creating the illusion of a very large moon, according to NASA. "The eclipsed moon, hanging low in the west at daybreak on June 4th, will seem extra-large to U.S. observers east of the Mississippi,” a NASA video said (see video below). As a result of the eclipse, the Earth's shadow will take a 37% bite out of the full moon, according to the space agency. NASA says the June full moon is a "strawberry moon," a Native American name for the moon during the short strawberry harvesting season. Unfortunately for much of Southern California, low clouds will ruin the view almost everywhere Monday morning, except for the Interstate 5/Grapevine corridor, the Santa Clarita Valley, Frazier Park, the mountains -- such as Mt. Wilson -- and the desert, said Dave Bruno, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. |