November's Lunar Eclipse
Animation Credit & Copyright:
Larry Koehn
The Moon slides through the Earth's shadow
this Saturday night / Sunday morning (November 8/9) giving
skygazers in the Americas, Europe,
Africa, and western Asia a chance to
enjoy a total lunar eclipse.
As
lunar eclipses go,
this will be a brief one
though, with the total phase lasting only about 25 minutes.
The orientation and relative size of the
Earth's shadow
and the Moon's trajectory are illustrated in this thoughtful
animation showing the full Moon moving up from the lower right,
entering the penumbra or outer portion of the shadow region,
and then passing well below the center of the darker inner shadow region
or umbra.
The total
eclipse phase begins
at 1:06 Universal Time, November 9
(8:06pm EST Nov. 8)
when
the Moon is completely within the umbra.
While the off-center passage guarantees a short total phase, it
also makes it likely that this November's eclipsed Moon will be
dramatically visible and colorful
with a brighter rim along the
southern edge.