BS: Eclipse of the Moon

Subject: Eclips of the Moon
From: Cobble
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 03:27 PM

I have just spent a wonderful hour in my back yard, freezing cold, looking at the total eclips of the moon.

The moon looked so ghostly as it turned to a beautiful shade of pale orange.

Did any of you UK 'catters see it?

Mrs. C

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Brakn
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 03:30 PM

Brrrrrrrrr. Yep!

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Zebedee
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 03:42 PM

Be sure to watch at 20:52 when the moon starts to reappear.

You can really understand why the ancients got freaked out by such things, and biblical phrases of the "moon will turn to blood" signifying doom.

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 03:43 PM

Cobble, we had an eclipse of the sun here in the central US on Christmas Day. My astronomer buddy told me that a sun eclipse and a moon eclipse usually occur in pairs. So we were looking for another one, just didn't realize it would be this soon, or not really visible for us.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Zebedee
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 03:47 PM

Sorry Mary,

23rd May 2003 is your next chance in America.(I think, I have to rush outside....)

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Doctor John
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:05 PM

It's certainly gone (8.45, Devon) not blood red though; just not there. Very dark out here in the sticks. Checking to see if it's returned. Dr John

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,MIKE CAHILL
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:10 PM

Up here in west Yorkshire I had to go to a corner of my alotment to find somewhere away from light polution, but it was worth it, a deep coral pink, and it actually looked like a sphere rather than the normal disc

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: mousethief
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:24 PM

I didn't realize the moon HAD an eclip, let alone more than one.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Morticia
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:34 PM

sadly it was too overcast here, moon looked a 1000-wash grey, that was it.....

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Zebedee
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:40 PM

Mousethief

The NASA eclipe page is a great starting point if you want to learn a bit more about eclipses.

And I think you should! :-)

Seriously, I love them and they help me realise my place in the universe.

Ed

who wishes he had enough money to go to Madagascar in the summer

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: mousethief
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 04:44 PM

Zeb, I was just teasing about spelling.

During a recent (partial) solar eclipse I was working at a place that had those 1" blinds with tiny little holes all over them (not sure what this achieves -- do they take the material and melt it down and make more blinds?). Anyway it was cool because instead of a zillion tiny little circles of light all over my desk, there were a zillion tiny little circles with a bite taken out of each. It was pretty cool!

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,ickle dorritt
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 05:24 PM

Well we stood in the middle of the street, my husband modelling the latest in Hungarian Head Fashion with a pair of binoculars gazing agog at the lunar blueyness of it all. The neighbours now think we're a pair of perves.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclipse of the Moon
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 05:32 PM

NW Ireland - I looked for the moon but it was nowhere to be seen in the misty fog filled air. The sky looked white all day and it was no better tonight. I think in the country areas without all the electric light people could see something.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Cobble
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 05:38 PM

I got some strange looks from our neighbours too, looking through binoculars in the dark, but they ha no intrest in watching.

They mist a lovely sight!!

Guest Mike Cahill, what part of Yorkshire? We are neer Goole.

Mrs. C.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: okthen
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 05:43 PM

Great view here in Suffolk, rushing outside every 10 minutes, rushing back in to get warm.

Lovely dark red at times.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 06:04 PM

(Geoff the Duck)
We had mist or thin cloud, so the gradual disappearance of the moon was visible but not spectacular, then just as the final obscuration (is that a word? - should it be obscurity? or obfuscation, or obscenity, or obsidian or bog-it just as the final crescent was disappearing) the clouds swept over what we could see, and we lost it.
No "Blood Red" glow, no nothing!
Never mind - GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Nemesis
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 12:36 AM

Did you hear that Hastings witches were congregating to try and prevent any negative energies getting through? Well, it didn't work further up the coast in Worthing - I had the local "witch", as in mad and bad female creature walk past the house for the first time in months mouthing profanities, and then after watching the moon turn red, discovered our adored little black cat, Esme, had been hit by a car...

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Llanfair
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 03:26 AM

Saw bits of the moon through the mist here in Wales.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Jock Morris
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 03:36 AM

Cloud cleared away just in time for the eclipse up in Edinburgh. Nice orangy red colour as it reached totallity.

Scott

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 03:47 AM

I left work at 9pm and saw it "coming back" (so busy looking I walked into one of my colleagues who had also stopped to look- DOH!).
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Haruo
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 03:47 AM

Hereabouts "Eclips" is a hair salon chain. I've always thought they were a bit too far ahead of their time; I'm old-fashioned, prefer hands-on hairdressing instead of having it done over the Internet...

Liland
Really starting to lose it... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: JulieF
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:58 AM

South Yorkshire - Beautifully clear - went back in to eat at about 3/4 gone , came back out for the totality and the cloud had risen and we could't see a thing. Tim was a few miles down the road and sill had a clear view at this point

I went to North France for the Solar eclispe in 99. Again we just missed totality due to cloud cover, but the experience of the darkness sweeping over the land and an strang silence was not to be missed - I'm going to do it agin sometime.

Julie

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Homeless
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 10:06 AM

Well, we didn't get the eclipse in the states, but here in the Midwest we did get a big beautiful full moon to enjoy yesterday evening.

And also this morning - it was on the other side of the sky. I was on my way into work and as I was passing the beach (on Lake Michigan) I decided to stop and climb a sand dune to see how the moon looked over the water. After hiking the trail for 15 minutes and topping the crest of the dune, I was paralyzed by the beauty. The sun was rising just south of east and the full moon was setting over the water in the Northwest. The lake under the moon was reflecting all the rich pinks and oranges of the sunrise behind me, the sky was the pale blue of post dawn, and the moon shone vividly white in the sky. There were ice floes scattered on the lake surface to break up the sunrise on the water with their blue-white tones. The dune grass and sand ranged from pale yellow to dark tan, and the snow picked up the moon shine.

Hugely grateful I had thrown my camera bag in the car this morning, I hiked along the dune ridge, lost in time, taking in the beauty and tranquility of the lake reflections, moonset and sunrise, and snow, sand, and plants of the dunes.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: mousethief
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 11:40 AM

Lovely images, Homeless. Hope you will let us see the photos when you get them developed, and thanks for sharing your experience with us!

I heard the next lunar eclipse will be in about 4 months. Will it be visible from the United States, does anybody know?

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Tony in Sweden
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 11:52 AM

Wonderfull clear skies sight here in Sweden last night.
Actually it was good to see the moon disappear, as recently its been visible for 18hrs at a time.
mvh. Tony.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,Matt_R
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 12:05 PM

Everthing under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon...

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: mousethief
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 12:30 PM

There is no dark side of the moon, really
As a matter of a fact, it's all dark.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,Matt_R
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 12:44 PM

YES!!! I was gonna put that Alex...but I don't know how to make the text really little.

I'm not sure if I was drunk at the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Morticia
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 12:54 PM

Challis, I'm really sorry about your cat, is she alright? I am hoping that you don't usually use the word witch as a short hand form of 'mad and bad female'......you'll find quite a few of us in this forum and we're mainly pretty nice people.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Les from Hull
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 01:26 PM

Saw it - it was lovely. I don't understand all this hanging about in streets, allotments etc. I've got windows where I live. And I don't just mean Microsoft's thing either. No, lovely glass things, ideal for looking through.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:41 PM

Mousethief - go here to find out when upcoming eclipses are. Also, if you go to the Data Services link at the bottom of that page, you'll find all kinds of things including an eclipse calendar.

Les - not everyone has windows the point in the correct direction. Or windows with an unobstructed view. The window I would need to use looks dead into the side of my neighbor's house.

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: mousethief
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:44 PM

Cool page, Guest. What's an "annular solar eclipse"?

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Snuffy
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:58 PM

Annular means shaped like a ring, so I guess it might be where you can still see a thin ring of the sun all the way round the dark bit.

But that's a guess - I don't really know

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Rollo
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 12:16 AM

Yes it was good watching here in hamburg / germany. but most funny were the factory workers on the other side of the road. they were having very suspicious looks at us, for they believed we wanted to spy through their windows. But we didnt move away, so most of them didn't shower, hee hee hee...

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Penny S.
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 05:07 PM

Annular eclipse - the Moon and the Earth do not have absolutely circular orbits. Sometimes we are nearer the Sun - which looks correspondingly larger. Sometimes the Moon is further away, and looks smaller. When these occasions coincide, the apparent diameter of the Moon is not great enough to cover the apparent diameter of the Sun, hence an annular solar eclipse, with a ring like effect. This only happens even then if the centres of the Sun and Moon, and the observer are very closely in line. Otherwise, there would only be a partial eclipse, with the missing bite.

I had a group of children and parents out in our cold playground with the school telescope for the start of the eclipse, from the Moon entering the umbra until totality. Longer would have been too much for them. I went home, but the cloud came up and obscured things soon after totality ended. It was much darker than I had seen before, or than I expected.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 06:10 PM

Saw it, loved it, 1000 wash grey to dirty orange.... Bratling just said - Oh mummy, not another eclipse.... spoiled it for her in 1999....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 06:11 PM

Saw it, loved it, 1000 wash grey to dirty orange.... Bratling just said - Oh mummy, not another eclipse.... spoiled it for her in 1999....

LTS

Subject: to Morticia from Challis
From: Nemesis
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 06:14 PM

Dear Morticia,

Re. Esme (as in Weatherwax) - no, tragically, she was dead at 9 months, as hit with massive head trauma. She was a beautiful little "wild" creature with black fur like polished silk. We (friends, extended family, neighbours) are all traumatised, children especially so. She really seemd to make a tremendous impact on many people in a very short space of time. Apologies tho' for "witch", I thought afterwards "Oh, heck" that's NOT the word to decribe". I meant "witch" there in fairy-tale shorthand (under normal circumstances I would never dream of using it in a negative way) The particular woman is definitely evil in a mad way. All the Wiccans I know are lovely people, as confirmed by your concern. Thank you

Blessings be

Hille

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Morticia
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 06:45 PM

Challis, I am so sorry for your loss and knew you didn't mean witch in a negative sense........you didn't state it but I felt it..... just needed to highlight it,hope you don't mind
bright blessings
Terri

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Dave Wynn
Date: 11 Jan 01 - 07:39 PM

Dunno what the fuss was all about. I went out , looked , howled..thats what I do at moons. It's what I am stuck with....

Spot (the trad) Dog

Subject: Thanks Terry
From: Nemesis
Date: 12 Jan 01 - 04:11 AM

Thanks Terry,

Of course, I don't mind - You were absolutely right to hi-light it - as I really wouldn't want to perpetuate negative stereotypes.

Blessings be Hille

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,bagpuss
Date: 12 Jan 01 - 07:46 AM

I found it a great way to meet all the neighbours. We all appeared with our heads sticking out of the skylights in the attics and I had a jolly good chat to a little girl who lives 2 doors away, across the rooves of the houses!

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Peg
Date: 12 Jan 01 - 09:44 AM

Challis; so sorry about your kitty. What a great name you gave her! My cat was hit by a car a couple of years ago and he almost didn't make it (his back legs were paralyzed for a month and by soem miracle he recovered) so I understand your sadness at losing your friend to such an event.

As beautiful as eclipses are they are times of potent and often unstable energy; car trouble is said to happen more during eclipses than other times (I once ran out of gas due to a faulty gas gauge on the Mass Pike in the middle of a freezing, blinding snow storm during a total lunar eclipse--the moon actually disappeared--and screamed for twenty minutes at passing cars for help. Either no one saw me or didn't care. Finally a trucker stopped.)

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Zebedee
Date: 12 Jan 01 - 09:07 PM

Peg

Do you have any reasonable data that suggests that ecliples are times of 'potent and often unstable energy?'

As regards your car breaking down, how come all the other cars on your road still worked without problem?

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 12:13 AM

More women have their periods at the full moon than any other time.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 05:51 AM

Hertford had a fine view but I had to go to Cornwall to see the 99 event. Was blessed by a gap in the clouds at the right moment. Unforgettable.! How strange is it that the size and distance of the moon is EXACTLY right so it covers the Sun ?

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Penny S.
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 06:19 AM

The coincidence of size is even stranger than it seems, because there is a time factor as well. In the future, there will be fewer total solar eclipses, and the Moon is moving further from the Earth, and will look smaller, so more eclipses will be partial or annular. We, now and here, are very lucky. It is possible to argue that without this coincidence, the impulse to develop observational astronomy and maths would have been less effective, and the whole of science would have been inhibited.

Liz, I'm interested in your comment re full moons. I found a tendency that way, some of my life, and found it ran counter to published articles, which suggested the reverse, that there was clustering around the new moon. The tendency could easily be shifted by other factors, though. The human cycle, which is variable between people and over time in the same person, is not more than very close to the lunar cycle of full to full, which is 29 and a half days, not 28. It is another odd coincidence, especially as our close relatives, the chimps, with an outdoor lifestyle, have an average cycle of 33 days.

I would be very interested to know what mechanism might be proposed for the effects of eclipses, other than associated spring tidal effects or the brief absence of light.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 06:26 AM

If you have a large group of exclusively women, say, a typing pool, you will find that over a few months their cycles will all coincide.... my former manager has moved to an all female office and she says that it is hell for the third week of the month, EVERYONE is cranky as all get out, and there's a sudden rush on the dispensing machines. In a mixed office, this tends not to happen..... Something about the male pheromones in the air I think....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: GUEST,ChrisE
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 06:34 AM

Hi there Here in Austria/Salzburg I saw the sun eclipse in 1999 and now the moon eclipse.....it's just great. Everytime the sky was clear!

Subject: RE: BS: Eclips of the Moon
From: Penny S.
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 06:50 AM

Liz, I don't think it has to be that large a group - we've had it at school, too. Primary school, so only the staff involved. Useful, if taken by surprise - someone else would have supplies. And someone going through a bad menopause could wreak havoc on those not on the pill. This is anecdotal, not reviewed research. There was research done with a convent in the States (I think), which had the entrained cycles - the researcher then introduced testosterone to the air conditioning (that's why I think it was the States), and found that the cycles became shorter. Then the Reverend Mother found out, and stopped the experiment. We do have men around at school. I expect you would need a certain proportion, or that they have to arouse interest in the women to have an effect. One aspect of human cycles which would not apply in chimps is that our minds (emotions in this case) can drive our bodies, even such apparently involuntary matters.

Incidentally, I have read that the Ayatolla Khomeini interpreted the teachings of Islam as that if a woman was praying, and her period began during the prayer, the prayer was void. What sort of God is that?

Penny