From our friends at Bluewater SS and the Townsville Astronomy Club. Thousands of Townsvilleans are expected to flock to the Strand Wednesday 8th October evening for one of the most spectacular astronomical events of the year- a total lunar eclipse. From 7.30pm, the shadow of the earth will start crawling over the face of the full moon, taking an hour to eat it up completely. At 8.27pm, the total eclipse starts. The moon will be an eerie red colour, as its only light will be refracted by earths atmosphere. There is nothing as spectacular as a red moon soaring. The full moon will be high in the sky over the sea when the eclipse starts. The best place to see it will be the Strand. It will be a photographers delight- you will have an hour to get the perfect picture. Using anything from an SLR to a Smartphone, people all over the world will record the October 8 2014 total lunar eclipse for posterity. The Townsville Astronomy Group will have their telescopes set up at the McKinley Street roundabout as usual, so as many as possible can feast their eyes on this magic event. Unlike Solar Eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view and photograph. No special filters are required, and the eclipse lasts so much longer than the brighter solar equivalent. Make a family evening of it. Bring a picnic. Bring a camera. Dont miss it. More info Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up, with the Earth between the Sun and the Moon. They can only happen on a full Moon. The Moon circles the Earth every month (or moonth), but its orbit is not in the same plane as the Earths orbit around the Sun. Usually the Moon is a bit above the line from the Sun to the Earth, or a bit below, so the Earths shadow misses the moon. Twice a month, however, the orbit passes from above to below the Earth- Sun orbital plane. If that crossing happens on the day of the full moon, then we get a lunar eclipse. This happens once or twice a year. For more details contact Bob Bartlett, Townsville Astronomy Group 0407747297.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:48:44 +0000
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