Planetarium Holds Total Lunar Eclipse Viewing
Buffalo State College Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium Director Art Gielow and the college’s Astronomy Club will host a total lunar eclipse viewing on Wednesday, Oct. 27, weather permitting. The viewing is open to the public and free of charge.
The one hour and 22 minute eclipse, the second of this year – the first occurred May 4 – begins in Western New York at 9:14 p.m., with the moon high in the eastern sky. Totality occurs at 10:23 p.m., and the eclipse ends at 11:45 p.m.
Gielow and students from the Astronomy Club will set up telescopes at about 9 p.m. on the east side of the Science Building, accessible from Iroquois Drive. Parking is available in Lot S-1.
Lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon when the moon passes through the shadow cast by the Earth as it orbits the sun. During a total eclipse, the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon. The total eclipse occurs in two parts – the partial phase when the moon passes through the Earth’s outer, or penumbral, shadow (which should last about an hour and nine minutes during this eclipse) and the total phase, when it passes through the Earth’s inner, or umbral, shadow.
The umbral part of the eclipse should be quite dramatic, according to Gielow, with the moon glowing a reddish shade anywhere from yellow-orange to deep blood-red. This occurs because a small amount of indirect sunlight reaches the moon to illuminate it through the Earth’s atmosphere. It is the Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out most of the blue light and bends the light waves around the curve of the Earth, that produces the brilliant colors the eclipsed moon displays.
The totally eclipsed moon reflects light from the combined sunrises and sunsets that encircle the Earth at the time. The precise color the moon glows is affected by the amount of dust and clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere, appearing a light coppery-orange when the atmosphere is clear to quite dark during major volcanic activity.
Gielow said that unlike a solar eclipse, no special equipment is needed to view the eclipse, although the penumbral part is difficult to see sometimes, even with a telescope.
During totality, the stars Vega; Deneb and Altair form the Summer Triangle and should be visible high in the western sky.
The next total lunar eclipse viewable in Western New York will occur on February 20 , 2008.
The one hour and 22 minute eclipse, the second of this year – the first occurred May 4 – begins in Western New York at 9:14 p.m., with the moon high in the eastern sky. Totality occurs at 10:23 p.m., and the eclipse ends at 11:45 p.m.
Gielow and students from the Astronomy Club will set up telescopes at about 9 p.m. on the east side of the Science Building, accessible from Iroquois Drive. Parking is available in Lot S-1.
Lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon when the moon passes through the shadow cast by the Earth as it orbits the sun. During a total eclipse, the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon. The total eclipse occurs in two parts – the partial phase when the moon passes through the Earth’s outer, or penumbral, shadow (which should last about an hour and nine minutes during this eclipse) and the total phase, when it passes through the Earth’s inner, or umbral, shadow.
The umbral part of the eclipse should be quite dramatic, according to Gielow, with the moon glowing a reddish shade anywhere from yellow-orange to deep blood-red. This occurs because a small amount of indirect sunlight reaches the moon to illuminate it through the Earth’s atmosphere. It is the Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out most of the blue light and bends the light waves around the curve of the Earth, that produces the brilliant colors the eclipsed moon displays.
The totally eclipsed moon reflects light from the combined sunrises and sunsets that encircle the Earth at the time. The precise color the moon glows is affected by the amount of dust and clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere, appearing a light coppery-orange when the atmosphere is clear to quite dark during major volcanic activity.
Gielow said that unlike a solar eclipse, no special equipment is needed to view the eclipse, although the penumbral part is difficult to see sometimes, even with a telescope.
During totality, the stars Vega; Deneb and Altair form the Summer Triangle and should be visible high in the western sky.
The next total lunar eclipse viewable in Western New York will occur on February 20 , 2008.
Media Contact:
Nanette Tramont, Director of News Services | 7168784325 | newsservices@bscmail.buffalostate.edu