[at-l] Saturday Evening 3rd of March

[David Addleton]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070209/sc_space/planaheadtotallunareclipsemarch3

Plan Ahead: Total Lunar Eclipse March 3
Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
SPACE.com
2 hours, 14 minutes ago

Soon after sunset on Saturday evening, March 3, skywatchers in eastern North
America can watch the rising full Moon undergoing its first total eclipse in
nearly 2-½ years.

In Europe and Africa the eclipse takes place late at night high in a dark
sky.

For North Americans, the farther east you are the better.  The eclipse will
already be in progress when the Sun sets and the Moon rises, two events that
happen almost simultaneously on a lunar eclipse night.

Links to Images: The Moon / Eclipse 2003 / Eclipse 2004

In New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces the Moon rises before
total eclipse begins; be on the watch for a thinning sliver of the Moon's
edge coming up just above the eastern horizon. Across much of the eastern
United States, the Moon rises during totality.  In this region, depending on
just how clear your eastern sky is on eclipse evening, you might have to
wait a half-hur or more after the Moon rises, since the twilight sky will
still be quite bright and the full Moon will be shining 1/10,000 to
1/100,000 as bright as it normally would; you'll be hunting for a dim ball.

Across the Midwest, and the Plains States totality has already ended by
moonrise and the eclipse is partial as the Moon emerges from the Earth's
shadow.  In the Rocky Mountain States, only a vague hint of the eclipse may
be evident in the form of a tarnishing or smudginess on the Moon's disk.
This will be the faint outer shadow of the Earth (the penumbra); it may give
the appearance that the 'Man in the Moon' has a bruise over his left eye.
Meanwhile, the West Coast misses out entirely.

The Moon will track across the northern portion of the Earth's shadow, and
will be completely immersed for one-hour and 14 minutes, making this a
somewhat longer than normal totality.

Because some of the sunlight that strikes our Earth is diffused and
scattered by our atmosphere, its shadow is not completely dark; enough of
this light reaches the Moon to give it an eerie coppery glow even when it's
totally eclipsed.  It is anticipated that during the upcoming total eclipse
the Moon will glow brightest across its upper portion, while its lower part
(closest to the center of the shadow) will appear a darker shade of brown or
chocolate color.

This will be the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2007, the other
occurring on Aug. 27 will favor western North America and the Pacific Rim.