Lunar Eclipse Coming Up Tuesday

gleaned from Stargazer site on pbs.org

When To Look Up?

Tuesday morning, August 28th, we will be treated to the last of the dual eclipses of 2007, the first of which occurred on Saturday March 3rd. We're calling it the eclipse of the Sturgeon Moon which is the name many American Indian fishing tribes gave the August full Moon since sturgeon were easily caught during August.

What happens to cause a lunar eclipse?

The full Moon will glide directly into our Earth's plane and will pass directly through our Earth's shadow which will block most of the Sun's light from reaching it. In other words our Earth's shadow will eclipse the light of the Sun which is why we call such an event an eclipse.

Does The Moon Disappear?

During a total lunar eclipse the Moon never completely disappears but always turns some unpredictable shade of reddish orange and that's because the red rays of sunlight are always bent by our Earth's atmosphere into our Earth's shadow, filling it with a faint reddish orange light. So during a total lunar eclipse the reddish orange Moon color you see is actually light from all the sunrises and sunsets around the world being refracted, that is bent, into our Earth's shadow and onto the Moon and then reflected back again. And that's what you'll see Tuesday morning between midnight and dawn.

When To Watch (times etc)?

Now if we could look at our Earth's shadow cone more closely we would see that there are two distinct parts to it. A pale outer shadow called the penumbra and a smaller dark shadow called the umbra. The penumbral phase of the eclipse is never very noticeable so I'm suggesting that you start watching when the Moon begins to enter the umbra which is 4:51 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time or your local equivalent. Then as minute after minute goes by you will actually see the umbra which is our Earth's curved shadow slowly creep across the Moon and gradually darken it and cause it to change color. The Moon will be completely within the umbra and totally eclipsed for about 91 minutes from 5:52 a.m. to 6:23 a.m. Eastern Time, after which the whole process will slowly reverse. But people on the east coast will see only the first half of the eclipse, the entire show is reserved for the west coast. Because no one can predict what color the Moon will turn during totality that's what makes it so much fun. Will it be bright orange, or blood red? Only the shadow knows. See for yourself. And go to our website for more info. Keep looking up!