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Don't miss the *TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
TONIGHT* January 20th
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Thursday, January 20
A few minutes before the Sun sets in WSW, try to spot the Full Moon rising
in the opposite direction, ENE. From East Lansing, MI both Sun and Moon are one
degree above opposite horizons 10 minutes before sunset. The opposition of Sun
and Moon becomes more precise later this evening, during the total lunar
eclipse, which occurs as Moon passes through the umbra, or dark central core of
Earth's shadow. All stages of umbral eclipse are visible from all of N. America
except the western Aleutian Islands. For viewers in eastern U.S., the event
begins late in the evening and continues well past midnight, as follows: Moon
enters umbra 10:01 p.m. EST, total eclipse from 11:04 p.m. until 12:23 a.m. EST,
Moon leaves umbra 1:26 a.m. EST. From the West Coast, the local time of the
eclipse is three hours earlier: Moon enters umbra 7:01 p.m. PST, total eclipse
from 8:04 p.m. until 9:23 p.m. PST, Moon leaves umbra 10:26 p.m. PST. In Hawaii,
the Moon, just entering total eclipse at 6:04 p.m., rises invisibly around
sunset and becomes visible as the sky darkens. Totality ends at 7:23 p.m. Hawaii
time as the Moon begins to emerge from the umbra, and the Moon completely leaves
the umbra at 8:26 p.m. HST.
What colors will you see on the Moon during totality? The Earth's shadow
projected on the Moon during lunar eclipse is usually a deep reddish-orange
color, from sunlight which passes close to Earth and is bent, by our atmosphere,
into the shadow and onto the Moon. The appearance of the Moon varies
considerably from one eclipse to another. At deepest eclipse, at 11:43 p.m. EST
(8:43 p.m. PST), Moon's northern limb is deep within umbra and narrowly misses
the center of Earth's shadow. So that part of the Moon's disk is likely to
appear very dark. Stars around the Moon at mid-eclipse: Note the two bright
stars Pollux and Castor, the Gemini twins, 4-1/2 degrees apart, above the Moon.
A line from Castor to Pollux extended about 10 degrees points to the totally
eclipsed Moon. In dark-sky locations, the Beehive cluster in Cancer appears as a
faint smudge of light 6 degrees or 7 degrees to the Moon's east. Binoculars
resolve the smudge into stars and should give fine views of the colorful
eclipsed Moon.
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