Deep Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Feb 10/11

coylemj

Not usually worth bothering with but the Moon will be deep inside the Earth's partial shadow (penumbra) on the night of Feb 10/11 (Fri/Sat) next so there will be a significant difference in brightness across the lunar disc during maximum eclipse at 00:45 on Sat. morning. The upper limb of the Moon will be very close to the umbra and will be noticeably dimmer than the lower part of the moon's disc.

The Moon will start to enter the penumbra at 22:34 on Friday night, maximum eclipse is at 00:45 on Sat. morning (hence the official date - Feb 11th) and the eclipse will end at 02:53. All times UTC.

Two page PDF with full details.....

https://eclipses.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2017Feb11N.pdf

It's worth looking out earlier and see which visible star is closest to the Moon, chances are that around the time of maximum eclipse, you will be able to see a lot of fainter stars that are closer.

uck51js9zml2yt

I'll be in the middle of kerry friday night....guaranteed dark skies

Pat Dunne

Will be in Southern Spain next Friday/Saturday and would have thought I was in with a great chance to see the lunar eclipse in clear sky's. But guess what AccuWeather are forecasting rain and heavy cloud cover!

I'm giving up on this astronomy lark

coylemj

Just so as everyone is clear on this - during this event the Moon will never enter the Earth's total shadow (umbra) so no part of the Moon will go dark. No refunds!

Good article in Sky and Telescope, the times in the diagram below (UT) apply to to Ireland....



http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/feb-10th-penumbral-lunar-eclipse/

Pat Dunne

coylemj wrote: »

Not usually worth bothering with but the Moon will be deep inside the Earth's partial shadow (penumbra).............. so there will be a significant difference in brightness across the lunar disc during maximum eclipse at 00:45 on Sat. morning. The upper limb of the Moon will be very close to the umbra and will be noticeably dimmer than the lower part of the moon's disc.

coylemj wrote: »

Just so as everyone is clear on this - during this event the Moon will never enter the Earth's total shadow (umbra) so no part of the Moon will go dark. No refunds!

...........

coylemj

Pat Dunne wrote: »

...........

When all of the Moon goes into the umbra, it's a total lunar eclipse and during the total phase, all of the moon will be dark, usually a red copper colour.

If some but not all of the Moon enters the umbra, it's a partial lunar eclipse so some of the Moon will go dark and some will still be (relatively) bright and in partial sunlight so you may or may not be able to see the part of the moon inside the umbra.

This upcoming eclipse is the poor relation, a penumbral lunar eclipse, have a look at the Sky and Telescope article linked to above. From that article, the centre moon below is roughly what you will see on Saturday morning next around the time of maximum eclipse at 00:45 UT......

Pat Dunne

coylemj wrote: »

When all of the Moon goes into the umbra, it's a total lunar eclipse and during the total phase, all of the moon will be dark, usually a red copper colour.

If some but not all of the Moon enters the umbra, it's a partial lunar eclipse so some of the Moon will go dark and some will still be (relatively) bright and in partial sunlight so you may or may not be able to see the part of the moon inside the umbra.

This upcoming eclipse is the poor relation, a penumbral lunar eclipse, have a look at the Sky and Telescope article linked to above. From that article, the centre moon below is roughly what you will see on Saturday morning next around the time of maximum eclipse at 00:45 UT......

Thank you coylemj, for you posts, I'm very aware of the make up of the lunar event tonight. Its just that I found your posts a wee bit confusing and contradictory.

arkrow

Comet 45p makes closest approach tonight aswell.

coylemj

Pat Dunne wrote: »

.... I'm very aware of the make up of the lunar event tonight. Its just that I found your posts a wee bit confusing and contradictory.

How could you have been confused if you already understand what tonight's eclipse is all about?

Which parts of my posts were contradictory?

browner85

Where should we be looking to see the comet ? Clouds seem to be breaking a bit

coylemj

browner85 wrote: »

Where should we be looking to see the comet ? Clouds seem to be breaking a bit

It sets before the sun in the afternoon so you need to look to the east late at night though the full moon won't help. It rises at 22:15 tonight but it will probably be after midnight when it clears the horizon sufficiently to be seen.

You'll need to know exactly where to look, check out http://www.heavens-above.com/ put in your location, then click on 'Comets', select 45P, you can then input a date and time to get it's exact location in the sky.