The April 15th 2014 total lunar eclipse and Spica. Photo by author.
October 2014 means eclipse season 2 of 2 for the year is upon us.
Don t fear the Blood Moon that s currently infecting the web but if you find yourself on the correct moonward facing hemisphere of the planet do get out and observe the total lunar eclipse coming right up on the morning of Wednesday October 8th. This is the second and final total lunar eclipse of 2014 and the second of four in a quartet series of lunar eclipses known as a tetrad.
And the good news is the eclipse once again favors nearly all of North America. From the western U.S. and Canada the Moon will be high in the western skies when partial phases begin early in the morning on October 8th. The western U.S. Canada and Alaska will see the entire 61 minute span of totality just 18 minutes shorter than last April s lunar eclipse. The Moon will be high in the sky during totality for the Hawaiian Islands and viewers in Australia and the Pacific Far East will witness the eclipse in the evening hours.
The visibility regions for the total lunar eclipse. Credit NASA/GSFC/Espenak.
This lunar eclipse is part of saros 127 and marks number 42 of a series of 72 for that particular saros. If you witnessed the total lunar eclipse visible from North America and Europe on September 27th 1996 you caught the last of the series and if you catch the next eclipse in the saros on October 18th 2032 you ve earned a veteran lunar eclipse watchers badge of seeing an exeligmos or triple saros of eclipses.
The path of the Moon through the Earth s umbra on October 8th. Adapted from NASA/GFSC.
Timings for key phases of the eclipse are as follows
P1 Penumbral phase begins 8 14 UT/4 14 EDT/1 14 PDT
U1 Umbral (partial) phase begins 9 15 UT/5 14 EDT/2 14 PDT
U2 Totality begins 10 24 UT/6 24 EDT/3 24 PDT
Mid totality 10 55 UT/6 55 EDT/3 55 PDT
U3 Totality ends 11 25 UT/7 25 EDT/4 25 PDT
U4 Umbral phase ends 12 35 UT/5 35 PDT
P4 Penumbral phase ends 13 35/6 35 PDT
Not all total lunar eclipses are the same when it comes to color. Totality can appear anywhere from a dark brick color as happened during the December 9th 1992 eclipse following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo when the Moon nearly disappeared during totality to a bright coppery red as seen during the April eclipse earlier this year. The Moon passes to the north of the dark central core of the Earth shadow next Wednesday so expect a brighter than normal eclipse especially along the Moon s northeast limb. Grab a painter s wheel and compare the eclipsed Moon to swatches of orange through red what colors do you see What you re seeing is the combinations of all the world s sunsets refracted into the cone of the Earth s shadow which is about three times the size of the Moon at its average distance as seen from Earth. Remember the Moon is experiencing a total solar eclipse as we watch the lunar eclipse unfold
The October 8th total solar eclipse as seen from the Apollo 11 landing site on the nearside of the Moon. Created using Stellarium.
This color can be quantified and described on what is known as the Danjon Scale with 0 being a very dark eclipse with the Moon barely visible to a 4 meaning a very bright eclipse.
And yes each total lunar eclipse is now receiving the Blood Moon meme thanks to ye ole Internet. Expect the conspiracy minded to note that this eclipse occurs on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot starting at sundown on the 8th which isn t really all that wondrous as the Jewish calendar is a luni solar one and total lunar eclipses have to occur during a Full Moon by definition. Wait long enough and an occasional Sukkot total lunar eclipse does indeed occur.
The footprint of the October 8th occultation of Uranus by the Moon during totality. (Credit Occult 4.1.0).
But a truly rare event does occur during this eclipse as the Moon actually occults (passes in front of) the planet Uranus during totality for observers in northern Alaska and northeast Asia. The rest of us in the observing zone will see a near miss. Can you spy Uranus with binoculars near the lunar limb during totality Another such rarity occurred during Shakespeare s time on December 30th 1591 involving Saturn and the eclipsed Moon and another such odd occurrence transpires in 2344 A.D.
The circumstances of the 2344 eclipse/occultation. Credit Starry Night NASA/GSFC Occult 4.0.1.
The brightest star to be occulted by the total eclipsed Moon as it crosses the constellation Pisces is 7.9th magnitude HIP 4231 for the northern U.S. and Canada.
And speaking of historical eclipses there s a Columbus Day tie in with the phenomenon as well. Like many mariners of his day Columbus was well versed in celestial navigation and used a total lunar eclipse to get a good one time fix on his longitude at sea an experiment that you can easily replicate. Columbus also wasn t above using prior knowledge of an impending lunar eclipse to get himself and his crew out of a bind with the locals when the need arose.
An outstanding sequence of images taken during the April 15th 2014 total lunar eclipse. Credit Michael Zeiler (Eclipse Maps) Used with permission.
Photographing an eclipse with a DSLR is as easy as shooting an image of the Moon. Try this a few evenings before the big event. A minimum focal length of 200mm is needed to render the Moon larger than a white dot in the image and remember that the Moon is much darker during total eclipse and you ll need to step the exposure times rapidly down from 1/100th of a second to 2 to 4 seconds during totality.
A long running effort by Sky Telescope has been looking for amateur observations of precise crater contacts along the rim of the umbra in an effort to measure variations in the diameter of the Earth s shadow.
The Moon versus Uranus as seen from Napa California just past mid eclipse on the morning of October 8th. Credit Starry Night Education Software.
As always weather prospects are the big question mark when it comes to eclipses. Typically the southwestern U.S. experiences 13 20 clear days in the month of October prospects worsen to the northwest with an average of 3 12 days. We ll be looking at resources such as NOAA Skippy Sky and ClearSkyChart on the evenings leading up to the 8th. The great thing about a lunar eclipse is you don t need a 100% clear sky to see it just a clear view of the Moon
Up for a challenge We ve yet to see a capture of a shadow transit of the International Space Station in front of the eclipsed Moon. This time around such a capture should be possible across southern coastal California and the Baja peninsula just minutes prior to the onset of totality.
A shadow pass of the International Space Station just prior to the onset of totality. Note the position of the Moon. Created using Orbitron.
Another bizarre catch known as a selenelion witnessing the end of lunar totality after sunrise may just be possible across the northern Rockies from the U.S. into southern Canada. The more elevation you can get the better This works because the Moon lingers a bit in the large shadow of the Earth plus atmospheric refraction gives the low altitude Sun and Moon a slight boost.
Clouded out On the wrong side of the planet You can watch the eclipse online at the following links
Live views courtesy of Gialuca Masi and the Virtual Telescope starting at 10 00 UT on October 8th.
A live webcast starting at 9 00 UT courtesy of Slooh
A Columbia State University broadcast (time to be determined).
Planning an ad hoc broadcast Let us know
And as the eclipse wraps up the biggest question is always When s the next one Well lunar eclipse number three of the four eclipse tetrad occurs next year on April 4th 2015 but in just two weeks time the western United States and Canada will also witness a fine partial solar eclipse on Oct 23rd
Stay tuned
Got images of the total lunar eclipse Send em in to Universe Today s Flickr forum
Interested in eclipse sci fi Check out our latest short stories Exeligmos and Shadowfall.
David Dickinson on Google About David DickinsonDavid Dickinson is an Earth science teacher freelance science writer retired USAF veteran backyard astronomer. He currently writes and ponders the universe from Tampa Bay Florida.
Tagged as 2014 eclipse blood moon eclipse observing eclipse photography eclipse projects eclipse science north america eclipse oct 8 lunar eclipse october eclipse Total Lunar Eclipse viewing a lunar eclipse
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