Starship Asterisk*

The good folks behind the SLOOH Space Camera have made their webcast of Saturday's eclipse available to us. Live coverage will begin at 1300 UTC on January 10. That's 0800 EST and 0500 PST. SLOOH will rely on images from telescopes based around the planet. Enjoy the show! There won't be another till 2014.

bystander wrote:LRO Observes Final Lunar Eclipse of the Year
NASA GSFC LRO | 2011 Dec 09

Orbiting 31 miles above the lunar surface, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft will get a "front-row seat" to the total lunar eclipse on Dec. 10, 2011.

LRO's Diviner instrument will record how quickly targeted areas on the moon's day side cool off during the eclipse. The degree of cooling is dependent on factors such as how rocky the surface is, how densely packed the soil is, and its mineral composition. By studying the lunar surface during the eclipse, scientists can learn even more about our nearest celestial neighbor.

Orbiting 31 miles above the lunar surface, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft will get a "front-row seat" to the total lunar eclipse on Dec. 10, 2011.

LRO's Diviner instrument will record how quickly targeted areas on the moon's day side cool off during the eclipse. The degree of cooling is dependent on factors such as how rocky the surface is, how densely packed the soil is, and its mineral composition. By studying the lunar surface during the eclipse, scientists can learn even more about our nearest celestial neighbor.

From beginning to end, the eclipse will last from 11:33 UT (6:33 a.m. EST, 3:33 a.m. PST) to 17:30 UT (12:30 p.m. EST, 9:30 a.m. PST). Totality, the time when Earth's shadow completely covers the moon, will last 51 minutes. All of the United States will see some portion of the eclipse. The West Coast will have a more complete view of this particular eclipse.

The West Coast will see totality as the moon sets and the sun rises. For West Coast viewers, the eclipse begins at 3:33 a.m. PST. The peak, when the moon is a deep red, occurs at 6:30 a.m. PST.

For East Coast residents, the only stage of the eclipse that will be visible is the earliest portion when the moon begins to enter Earth's shadow. This dimming is very slight and may be difficult to see.

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For more information on lunar eclipses, visit http://www.nasa.gov/eclipse or http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

alter-ego wrote:Chris - You may have the opportunity to view a selenelion. For Denver, the totally eclipsed moon will set ~3 minutes after sunrise. For me the moonset is ~6 minutes after sunrise, but won't be total - it will be emerging from the umbra.

Chris Peterson wrote: Yeah, but it means being up at sunrise. I don't do that very well <g>.

alter-ego wrote:
Chris - You may have the opportunity to view a selenelion. For Denver, the totally eclipsed moon will set ~3 minutes after sunrise. For me the moonset is ~6 minutes after sunrise, but won't be total - it will be emerging from the umbra.

A selenelion would be great but where can I go such that moonset will just
be entering into the umbra at sunrise so I can perform ombromanie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowgraphy_%28performing_art%29 wrote:

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

<<Ombromanie is the art of performing a story or show using images made by hand shadows. It can be called "cinema in silhouette". Performers of the art are often called a shadowgraphist or shadowgrapher.

The art has declined since the late 19th century when electricity became available to homes because light bulbs and electric lamps do not give off good shadows and also because cinema and television were becoming a new form of entertainment. Shadows are greatly defined by candlelight and therefore hand shadows were common in earlier centuries.

Since shadows have existed since the existence of objects obstructing light, it is hard to say when the art was first used by humans for entertainment. It could have been practiced by ancient or later humans, but it probably originated in the Far East. The French entertainer Félicien Trewey was interested in the art of Chinese shadow puppetry called Ombres Chinoises, which means "Chinese shadows". He popularized the art of hand shadows when he developed shadows of famous silhouettes. It then became popular in Europe in the 19th century.

[size=150][color=#0000FF]Shadowgrapher Celine Dion[/color][/size]

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Though the art is popular amongst different kinds of entertainers it seems prominent amongst magicians, because it was popularized by a magician who inspired many other magicians. Félicien Trewey who popularized the art perfected the widely known elephant, bird, and cat hand shadows and had even created some of his own, such as The Volunteer, Robinson Crusoe, The Jockey, The Rope Dancer and more. In 1889 he joined with Alexander Herrmann who most likely learned it from Trewey. David Tobias Bamberg most likely learned it from Alexander who then passed it down to his son Okito (Tobias Leendert Bamberg) who then passed it down to his son Fu Manchu (David Theodore Bamberg). Other magicians who used hand shadows in their act includes David Devant, Edward Victor, and the duo Holden and Graham in which Max Holden was famous for his "Monkey in the Belfry" shadow.

The performer should sit or stand between the light source and the blank surface. The performer also has the option to perform in front of the performance surface or behind it, each with different advantages. The performer has another option to perform from the left or the right of the light source. The farther the hands are from the light, the smaller the shadows will be, while the closer the hands are to the light, the larger the shadows will be. Also, the closer you are to the blank surface, the sharper your shadows will be. Trewey suggests that the most convenient distance for the light from the hands is four feet while the hands from the performance surface should be about six feet. The performer should always watch their shadows instead of their hands.>>

A selenelion or selenehelion occurs when both the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can be observed at the same time. This can only happen just before sunset or just after sunrise, and both bodies will appear just above the horizon at nearly opposite points in the sky. This arrangement has led to the phenomenon being referred to as a horizontal eclipse. It happens during every lunar eclipse at all those places on the Earth where it is sunrise or sunset at the time. Indeed, the reddened light that reaches the Moon comes from all the simultaneous sunrises and sunsets on the Earth.

Although the Moon is in the Earth’s geometrical shadow, the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can appear in the sky at the same time because the refraction of light through the Earth’s atmosphere causes objects near the horizon to appear higher in the sky than their true geometric position.

alter-ego wrote:Chris - You may have the opportunity to view a selenelion. For Denver, the totally eclipsed moon will set ~3 minutes after sunrise. For me the moonset is ~6 minutes after sunrise, but won't be total - it will be emerging from the umbra.