Tag: eclipse

The Great American Eclipse is Coming!

On August 21, 2017, millions of of American’s will see one of nature’s most wondrous spectacles, a total eclipse of the Sun. A total solar eclipse is when the Moon completely blocks the Sun. During a solar eclipse the moon passes between the sun and Earth and blocks all or part of the sun. This can last for up to about three hours, from beginning to end. The Sun’s corona (appearing as a halo around the sun during a total solar eclipse) will shimmer in the darkened sky.  The last time the contiguous U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979.

On August 21st, those living and visiting western North Carolina will have the opportunity to witness the solar eclipse at 99% totality! The moon will begin its traverse across the sun at 1pm, covering 99% of the sun at 2:37pm. Be sure to pick up some solar eclipse glasses to protect your eyes! 

It’s important to wear the solar eclipse glasses when gazing up at the sun. Because Asheville does not fall on the path of totality, the sun will never be fully covered by the moon. We just want to ensure everyone will have the opportunity to view the eclipse safely!

By NASA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEclipse_full_map_United_States.pdf

Why It’s Best to Watch A Total Solar Eclipse from 39,000 FT!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Joe Rao, an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York, discovered that an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Anchorage to Honolulu would be passing directly through the path of last night’s total solar eclipse.

After months of emailing back and forth with Alaska Airlines to get the flight pushed back by 25 minutes, they finally agreed. “We recognize our customer’s passions,” Chase Craig, Alaska’s director of onboard brand experience, said in a release. Being above the clouds is one of the major perks to seeing an eclipse from cruising altitude. Rao says, “You also get a chance to see the moon’s shadow sweeping across the landscape. At 37,000 feet, that’s a dramatic sight to see.”

What’s the different between a Solar and a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun, and the Earth’s shadow obscures the moon or a portion of it. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or a portion of the Sun.

Image Source: Pixabay.com- Solar Eclipse

Upcoming 5 Total Solar Eclipses

Dates Path of the eclipse
Mar 8 / Mar 9, 2016
Aug 21, 2017
Jul 2, 2019
Dec 14, 2020
Dec 4, 2021

Source: timeanddate.com

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/lucky-airline-passengers-see-total-solar-eclipse-plane-180110520–abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html

Rare Blood Moon Event

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Look to the sky’s early morning on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 for a rare lunar event! We are in store for a total lunar eclipse. The last one we had before 2014 was dated back to December 2011. The total lunar eclipse that is taking place early morning on October 8, 2014 is the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.

Not only are we going to be able to experience a total lunar eclipse, but it is said that the moon will glow a reddish hue, which is were the name “blood moon” comes from. The moon will be turning this red color because of sunlight that is scattered throughout the earth’s atmosphere.

If you are in for cloudy skies this evening, don’t worry, you can watch the lunar event live online. Just follow this link to the The Slooh Community Observatory and NASA: http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/slooh-covers-the-total-lunar-eclipse-of-october-2014-as-it-slides-across-the-pacific-ocean 

Here are a list of times to start watching!

Wednesday’s eclipse times:

Partial eclipse begins: 4:15 a.m. CDT

Total eclipse begins: 5:25 a.m. CDT

Moment of full moon: 5:51 a.m. CDT

Greatest eclipse: 5:55 a.m. CDT

Total eclipse ends: 6:24 a.m. CDT

Moonset: 6:45-7 a.m. CDT in Alabama

Partial eclipse ends: 7:34 a.m. CDT

Eastern times are one hour later, so be on the lookout starting around 5am if you are on the east coast!

Last Lunar Eclipse until 2014

Look in the western sky Saturday morning before dawn, and if the weather is clear and you’re in the right place, you will be rewarded with the last lunar eclipse of 2011.

For just under an hour, the disk of the full moon will almost disappear, turning a dark, rusty red.  The catch for Americans is that you’ll miss almost everything unless you’re west of the Mississippi.  Totality — when the moon is completely consumed by Earth’s shadow — begins at 6:06 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, and ends at 6:57 a.m. Even on the Pacific coast, dawn will start to brighten the sky before the eclipse is over.

Still, if you happen to be up, a lunar eclipse can be a quiet, refreshing experience.  Depending on the atmospheric conditions where you are, the moon may turn a rich orange, or it may become hard to pick out in the sky. The reddish hue comes from sunlight that is bent by Earth’s atmosphere. As happens during a vivid sunrise or sunset, most colors other than red are absorbed by the air. Read More

Did You Know?
A lunar eclipse takes place when the moon, following its orbit around us, passes directly behind Earth as seen from the sun.  It is the opposite of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. Since the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, the bodies do not align perfectly during most months — but the rules of orbital mechanics are such that in any given year, there will be at least two and no more than seven solar or lunar eclipses.

See Google’s Lunar Eclipse “Doodle” from June 2011