APOD: Eclipsed Moon in the Morning (2011 Dec 09)

[APOD Robot]

Eclipsed Moon in the Morning

Explanation: Tomorrow, December 10, the Full Moon will slide through planet Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse. The entire eclipse sequence, including 51 minutes of totality, will be visible from Asia and Australia, but moonwatchers in Europe and Africa will miss out on the beginning partial phases because for them, the eclipse will start before moonrise. In central and western North America the earlier phases of the eclipse will be in progress as the Moon sets. In fact, while those in the east will miss out, North Americans far enough west could see a scene very much like this one, with a mostly eclipsed Moon low and near the western horizon during morning twilght. This morning twilight view of another lunar eclipse approaching its total phase at moonset was captured in 2008 on February 21, from the Zagros Mountains of Iran.

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[alter-ego]

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.

[Beyond]

Well, just one more thing i can add to my astronomical cannot see list.

[Chris Peterson]

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.

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

[Ann]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse wrote:

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.

Goodness me. I had to google "selenelion". What's this, a site where you learn new words?

Ann

[neufer]

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

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]

---

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.>>

[orin stepanek]

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

I'm usually up at sunrise; but I seldom poke my head outside except to put Sassy out that early in the morning. This morning I had to fire up the snow blower so I did make it outside at sunrise.

[Joe Stieber]

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.

That's a new term for me too, but it turns out I experienced a Selenelion situation back on the morning of August 28, 2007. Totality of the lunar eclipse started at 5:52 am EDT, the sun rose at 6:22 am and the moon set at 6:24 am (from my location in the New Jersey Pine Barrens). Here's a picture I took at 5:53 am, 1 minute after the start of totality, when the moon was about 5 degrees altitude. The darkened moon is beginning to fade into the twilight.



In another picture taken at 6:00 am, the totally eclipsed moon is barely visible in the rapidly brightening twilight, and I was last able to spot the moon at 6:02 am using 10x42 binoculars. So once the sun rose, the dark, about-to-set eclipsed moon wouldn't have been visible anyway (even though the horizon in that direction is less than half a degree high).

[owlice]

Asterisk accepts submissions for APOD consideration; there is a thread now set up specifically for tomorrow's lunar eclipse images here, so charge those camera batteries, set your alarm, and please share your pictures!

[Boomer12k]

Looks like it is SMILING DOWN ON US! Great!

:----[=====] *

[bystander]

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.

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.

...

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

[neufer]

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.

If only they had gaffer-taped Dick Smith onto the LRO he could have performed ombromanie.

[kaigun]

Lucky me-the entire eclipse will be visible in Alaska. If I'm up at 5:00 on a Saturday morning...and it's not overcast (doubtful on both.) No chance of selenelion for us though. This close to the solstice sunrise here is currently about 10:00 a.m.

[Wolf Kotenberg]

going off topic , very slightly here, I plan on being up to see a fully fueled soviet spacecraft returning to the atmosphere, right over my house, and with any luck, on my birthday. But as luck goes, due to clouds i missed a meteor and my camera was on and pointed in the right direction a few years back. Luck is a funny thing.

[Katy]

I think It looks cool my science teacher is teaching us about the earth, moon,eclipses, and more..................................... ONE QUESTION WHAT DOES TWILIGHT MEAN? : [youtube][quote][/quote]

[Katy]

]I think It looks cool my science teacher is teaching us about the earth, moon,eclipses, and more..................................... ONE QUESTION WHAT DOES TWILIGHT MEAN? :

9 December 2011 Last updated at 20:07 ET
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Skywatchers await lunar eclipse
Total lunar eclipse

[saturn2]

SELENELION It¨s new for me, too.
This image of example is very, very beautiful.

[bystander]

Watch a Live Webcast of the Lunar Eclipse
Planetary Society | Mat Kaplan | 2011 Dec 09

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.