Moon – Page 2 – Into the West

Observing the Blood Moon Eclipse

I went to bed slightly early last night, but first I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m. Central. As I noted a couple of days ago, I wanted to get up early to observe a total lunar eclipse. As usually happens, I woke up early at 4:15 a.m. Who needs an alarm?

I decided to go ahead and throw on my clothes, grab my purse and smartphone and take the van to Dillons to fill it up. While I drove west (one mile) and north (two miles), I noted that the full moon was already missing a good chunk in the upper left-hand quadrant. After filling up the van, I continued west on Eisenhower Road, crossing Tonganoxie Road and heading up over the ridge. I crossed over 187th street, leaving the paved roads behind and continued until I was forced to turn left at 195th street, just south of an electrical substation (talk about light pollution out in the middle of no where). Continue reading “Observing the Blood Moon Eclipse”

Blood Moon Total Eclipse Early Wednesday Morning (for Central Time Zone)

Central Daylight Time (October 8, 2014):

Partial umbral eclipse begins: 4:15 a.m. CDT on October 8
Total eclipse begins: 5:25 a.m. CDT
Greatest eclipse: 5:55 a.m. CDT
Total eclipse ends: 6:24 a.m. CDT
Partial eclipse ends: 7:34 a.m. CDT

Chart, displaying eclipse phases in Universal Time (GMT), courtesy of EclipseWise.com

There is a total eclipse of the full moon on October 8, 2014. This is the Northern Hemisphere’s Hunter’s Moon – the name for the full moon after the Harvest Moon. It’s also a Blood Moon, and this eclipse is the second in a series of four so-called Blood Moon eclipses. For North America and the Hawaiian Islands, the total lunar eclipse happens in the wee hours before sunrise on October 8.

For more information about the total eclipse and answers to questions like ‘What’s a Hunter’s Moon?”, please visit the full article at EarthySky.

This Date in Science: Earth and Moon as Worlds in Space | EarthSky

http://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-sept-18-1977-voyager-1-earth-moon-photo

Here is the first-ever photo of the Earth and moon in a single frame. Voyager 1 took the photo on September 18, 1977, when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. Image Number: P-19891 via NASA/JPL

37 years ago today.

Voyager to Earth: “Hello World!” or more likely “Goodbye World!”

Voyager is still sending us postcards from the edge though.

Article: Google Just Added Maps For Mars And The Moon, And The Level Of Detail Is Stunning

Google Just Added Maps For Mars And The Moon, And The Level Of Detail Is Stunning

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-just-added-maps-for-mars-and-the-moon-and-the-level-of-detail-is-stunning-2014-8

I wonder how long before Mercury will be added to the list? Or perhaps the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Moon Passes Near Both Mars and Saturn this Week

Yesterday, I saw a post via Sky & Telescope’s Facebook feed that reminded me to get out my telescope. This week, starting tomorrow, you don’t need a telescope to see something amazing.

Saturday after sunset, look to the south to see the Moon near Mars.

Monday, again after sunset, look a bit farther to the south-east to see the Moon near Saturn.

Here’s a link to Sky & Telescope’s article about the Moon juicing up July:

Two Moon-Planet Conjunctions Juice Up July

But back to my telescope. I know I don’t need it to see the above two events, anyone with eyeballs can observe them. I wanted to get out my telescope and shake off the cobwebs. It’s been a cloudy spring this year, at least on the weekends. I observed Mars first, trying to see the polar ice caps, then I switched to Saturn, where I clearly saw the separation between the rings and the different cloud layers. The angle of the rings with respect to Saturn is spectacular right now.

ASOD: Phases of the Moon

Beautiful sketch work in this Astronomy Sketch of the Day posting from this past Sunday:

Moon; full moon facing, two views of dark side.
Sketch was made in my studio.
2009; published on album cover for jazz band Four, 2009
Graphite on archival paper.

Visit the Astronomy Sketch of the Day website for more great astronomical sketches.