|
|
:: 3.04.2007 ::
:: "World riveted to full lunar eclipse" ::
Moon bathed in reddish light The Boston Globe
LONDON -- A dark red shadow crept across the moon yesterday during the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years, thrilling stargazers and astronomers around the world.
Partly visible on every continent, residents of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East had the best view of the phenomenon, weather permitting.
About a dozen people gathered at the Croydon Observatory in southeast London to watch the start of the eclipse.
"It's starting to go!" said Alex Gikas, 8, a Cub Scout who was studying for his astronomy badge. "I've never seen anything like it before. I'm really excited."
The eclipse was clearly visible, thanks to clear, crisp weather in southern England. Overcast skies prevented an ideal view of the eclipse in the Boston area.
Lunar eclipses occur when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, an uncommon event because the moon spends most of its time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.
Sunlight still reaches the moon during total eclipses, but it is refracted through Earth's atmosphere, bathing the moon in an eerie reddish light.
Read more here.
A L S O
"Stargazers aglow over stunning eclipse" Scotsman.com
Key quote: "Saturday's eclipse was probably the best I've ever seen. The Moon was spectacularly red, and the shadow of the Earth cast on its surface was extremely sharp" - Douglas Cooper, secretary of the Scottish Astronomer's Group
IT WAS, experts agreed, the most spectacular lunar eclipse they had ever seen. As the skies across most of Scotland cleared, the surface of the full Moon first darkened before turning a brilliant coppery-red as the Earth's shadow was cast across its surface.
Slowly the shadow passed across the face of the Moon, before a brilliant white crescent appeared at its edge as the eclipse passed.
posted by me
:: 9:28:00 PM [+] ::
...
|