Unfortunately Sunday’s eclipse wasn’t visible from Florida but there is an excellent slide show of images at USA Today. Click on the image above to view.
Annular Solar Eclipse
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Category Archives: Solar System
Look Out! Solar Flares and CMEs
Far Side of the Moon
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Are You Curious?
You know by now my desire for you to find the wonder in science: the origin of the universe, multi-generational space travel, life on other planets, even the confluence of doomsday theories for 12.21.2012. So has your curiosity been piqued yet?
Scientists spend their lives exploring the unknown, searching for clues that might lead to the answers. Just such a quest is about to begin this week! The Curiosity Rover, pictured above is set to launch from Cape Canaveral this Saturday (11/26) at 10:02 am. Its mission to Mars will try to answer the question, “Is there life out there?”. Read more ….
Juno on to Jupiter
Although the Shuttle Program has come to an end, our exploration of space continues. At 12:25 pm (EDT) today, the Juno spacecraft blasted off atop an Atlas V rocket bound for
NASA's Juno mission lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Jupiter. This five year 1.7 billion mile journey will culminate in the spacecraft making 33 orbits of the largest planet in our solar system. Using a variety of on-board instruments Juno will peer through Jupiter’s dense cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure and atmosphere.
“From Juno we’re going to go learn about Jupiter so we can start to put together the pieces of how the solar system was made,” said planetary scientist and mission leader Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in the video below. “Jupiter’s got the first clues for us.”
Solstice Lunar Eclipse
Everyone knows that “the moon on the breast of new-fallen snow gives the luster of mid-day to objects below.”
That is, except during a lunar eclipse.
See for yourself on Dec. 21st, the first day of northern winter, when th
e full Moon
passes almost dead-center through Earth’s shadow. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light will play across the snows of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual state of ruddy shadow.
The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the “bite” to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes.
If you’re planning to dash out for only one quick look - it is December, after all - choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That’s when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.
Why red?
A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it’s not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth’s circumference, you’re seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth’s shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.
Back on Earth, the shadowed Moon paints newly fallen snow with unfamiliar colors–not much luster, but lots of beauty.
Enjoy the show.
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA