by Chris Peterson » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:51 am
twc wrote:I wondered if the chart linked from the APOD page might be for a solar eclipse. Since the size of the shadow cast by earth's umbra is greater than the size of the moon then it would cover the entire surface area of the moon. How would it be possible for it to obscure varying degrees of lunar visibility when viewed from different points on the surface of the earth as illustrated in the diagram?
That's not what the chart shows. It shows what parts of the world will see some, or all, of the event. Some places miss the entire thing because the Moon is below the horizon. Other places only see part, because the Moon rises already eclipsed, or sets before the eclipse finishes.
Those who can see it will be seeing essentially the same thing as everybody else at any given time (except that the Moon is close enough that it actually looks slightly different to people from different locations).
[quote="twc"]I wondered if the chart linked from the APOD page might be for a solar eclipse. Since the size of the shadow cast by earth's umbra is greater than the size of the moon then it would cover the entire surface area of the moon. How would it be possible for it to obscure varying degrees of lunar visibility when viewed from different points on the surface of the earth as illustrated in the diagram?[/quote]
That's not what the chart shows. It shows what parts of the world will see some, or all, of the event. Some places miss the entire thing because the Moon is below the horizon. Other places only see part, because the Moon rises already eclipsed, or sets before the eclipse finishes.
Those who can see it will be seeing essentially the same thing as everybody else at any given time (except that the Moon is close enough that it actually looks slightly different to people from different locations).