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20 Jan 00 - 07:08 PM (#165901) Subject: Astonmical / Moon query... From: clare s The fact that there is a total eclipse of the moon here in the UK has caused us to ask some questions - maybe me and freinds are stupid - but can someone give a simply explanation as to how we see the phases of the moon as we do? Where are the relative positions of the 3 bodies when we get a full moon? A good web site for simple people would help Clare |
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20 Jan 00 - 07:14 PM (#165905) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Brendy Interesting Clare. In England an eclipse, in Norway a full moon. I can explain it all right, but it would involve me using my brain too much. If it's 00.10 where you are, it's 01.10 where I am. I'm sure some individual with more acumen in the mechanisms of these things will come bursting through the doors here and enlighten you very soon. Astronomically challenged Brendy. |
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20 Jan 00 - 07:15 PM (#165907) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: katlaughing Here is a direct link about it, from NASA |
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20 Jan 00 - 07:51 PM (#165925) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: GUEST,T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird) katlaughing's link will tell you most of what you need to know, but I'll kibbitz anyhow. The Earth's orbit around the Sun defines a plane called the ecliptic. The Moon's orbit around the Earth is almost in the same plane, but not quite: it's tilted by a few degrees. Imagine a dinner table with a dinner plate that has somehow sliced diagonally into the wood, so that half the plate angles up from the table and the other half angles down below. The line where the plane of the Moon's orbit around the earth intersects the Earth's orbit around the Sun is called the line of nodes. If a dark or full moon occurs when the moon is on or very close to one of the nodes, then an eclipse occurs. These conditions recur roughly twice a year (the "eclipse season"). So most of the time the plane defined by the Sun, Earth, and Moon (or, to be classical, Helios, Tellus or Gea, and Selene) doesn't coincide with the ecliptic. Or, put another way, the moon is usually out of the plane of the ecliptic. A dark or full moon under these conditions doesn't create an eclipse. For the rest, half of every planet, including the Moon, is allways lit by the Sun's light (assuming spherical planets). The line between the lit half and the dark half is the terminator. How much of the lit half of a planet you see depends on where you are in relationship to the planet's lit-up half. So if the moon is on the Earth's dark side, (in "opposition") we see almost the entire lit half of the moon. If the moon is between us and the sun, the lit half is away from us, and we can't detect it in the Sun's glare unless it's in the plane of the ecliptic, in which case an eclipse occurs. If a line from the Sun's center to the Earth's center to the Moon's center forms a 90-degree angle at the Earth's center, the moon is at quadrature. Her lit face contains half of her Earth-ward side, and half of her far side; we see a quarter phase. I hope I have not confused you too much. T. |
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20 Jan 00 - 10:09 PM (#165981) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Mary in Kentucky The eclipse is beautiful in central KY RIGHT NOW! Mary |
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20 Jan 00 - 10:56 PM (#166003) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: TheMuse The eclipse should be total right about now here in Central Ny, however, it is snowing like crazy so I have no chance to see it. Heck of a time for old man winter to decide to catch up on our snow. Sigh. . . . TheMuse |
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20 Jan 00 - 10:58 PM (#166010) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Mary in Kentucky Here in central KY*****RIGHT NOW*****it's a beautiful clear night and the eclipse is about 7/8 or so! Mary |
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20 Jan 00 - 11:03 PM (#166012) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: katlaughing Beautiful in Wyoming! Right now! Gorgeous! |
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20 Jan 00 - 11:08 PM (#166015) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Bill D total , clear & beautiful in Washington DC! |
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20 Jan 00 - 11:36 PM (#166049) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Lonesome EJ Thanks for the scientific explanation! I was afraid that the Moon Goddess had become angry and was hiding her face, and I had been considering the possible beneficial impact of a blood sacrifice. Guess I can just grab my binoculars and relax. whew |
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20 Jan 00 - 11:53 PM (#166062) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: p.j. PJ reporting here from MOONNY California!!! It's beautiful! Dave just called me from the firehouse to talk about it, and when I ran outside I was the only one on the street... I thought "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE??" So I did a really dorky thing, I ran up and down the street ringing doorbells and dragging people out from in front of their televisions and their dinner tables and their ordinary lives to stare at the sky. I know most of my neighbors, but tonight, under cover of total darkness, I met them all. One doorbell I rang was of a woman who said she never opened the door for anybody, nobody on the street knew her, but she turned out to be really nice. Another man called down from on his roof to tell the crowd I was gathering in the street that we could come up on his terrace if we wanted to see from there. I woke somebody up who has to be at work at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow (oops) but he said he was glad I did and he joined us on the street in his jammies. A car drove down the street and stopped to ask if there was an accident. We made him get out of his car and watch. He said he hadn't even heard there was going to be an eclipse tonight. It was a great little moment among strangers (I love those) and as soon as I came inside I ran to the computer to see what you were all saying! I'm so glad to hear from Kentucky, the UK, Norway, to think that we're all ringing in with a common experience, albeit a few hours apart, because it occured to us that there are people we know around the world who would think this was cool. HEY! I can drag you all out onto the street with me! I think I'll take the laptop back outside (this is really weird) and watch the moon some more while I check back on what's going on with this thread.... pj |
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20 Jan 00 - 11:59 PM (#166068) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Alice I've been watching it from my window. It's gradually become a beautiful red as the shadow moved across. -alice |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:00 AM (#166069) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Mary in Kentucky PJ--I had to go outside because I could no longer see the moon from the window where my computer is. Still beautiful. M |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:07 AM (#166076) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Lonesome EJ It sure has a beautiful palpability- a real sense of the ball-shape, and as if it were indeed close enough to touch. In a way, I guess we are touching it. |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:26 AM (#166094) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: p.j. Incredible. Here I sit at the beginning of the 21st century, talking to people around the country-- around the world-- on a little box that's glowing in my front yard. I disconnected everything but the phone line, and made a crazy hodge-podge of wires stretch out from the house to the yard so I could be here with you all. The house I live in was built in 1911, so it has seen many eclipses. Families who have lived here before me have come out onto this porch, sat on this little hill in the front yard and seen the moon disappear in the 50's, the 20's, and before. Maybe somebody stopped a Model T or a horse-drawn carriage one night on my street to point out another eclipse. The ground I'm sitting on has been overshadowed by hundreds, thousands of these events. But tonight, while I watch the soft pink underbelly of our planet's satellite glow in the sky above the place that is home to me, I share it with people in far away places because of a little glowing screen that lets me know what they are thinking and seeing and feeling while they look up at the same moon I watch here. I feel small, and cold, and happy. The top of the moon is deep blood red, and I can hear laughter from neighbors down the street. The night air is thick with the smell of rosemary from the bushes in the yard, and in the distance, thousands of lights twinkle in the Oakland Hills and to the west, the San Francisco skyline. Tell me where you are. pj |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:27 AM (#166095) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Pete Peterson Now you can make the same deduction as the ancient Greeks-- the Earth is round, because it casts a round shadow during a lunar eclipse. This means (right this minute, at totality-- actually I think I saw a sliver of light starting to return) that the Moon is exacly on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun-- so the Moon---Earth----Sun (distances not to scale!) make a perfect straight line. and to answer Clare's original question, full moon= moon on opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. Rises at sunset, sets at sunrise. new moon-- on same side of Earth as the Sun. Rises at sunrise, sets at sunset. First quarter: Halfway between. Rises at noon, sets at midnight. Last quarter-- left as an exercise for the student. This doesn't mean I have lost my sense of wonder. It's BEAUTIFUL out there (and COLD) and I'm glad it cleared off in time to watch. We have our first snow of the winter, about 3" on the ground. Any Mudcatters up for an expedition to watch the next total SOLAR eclipse? 6/21/01, solstice 2001 off the coast of Angola, and I intend to be there, God willing. PETE |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:43 AM (#166097) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Peter T. pj - what a fine thing you did. I have been out watching tonight in the bitter Canadian cold. If I had my laptop out here, it would freeze up, but not like it usually freezes up. It was as LEJ says, ball-like, eerie. And now it has come full circle again! Say hi to Dave for me. yours, Peter T. |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:57 AM (#166103) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Lonesome EJ Now a blinding eighth crescent is displayed, much brighter than the normal crescent moon. A goodnight from the Colorado Rocky Mountains.. LEJ |
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21 Jan 00 - 01:22 AM (#166109) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: p.j. Goodnight LEJ, goodnight JohnBoy. Thank you PeterT, your thought for the day was beautiful. How nice to begin and end the day with lovely words from you. I'll talk to Dave in the morning and tell him you sent your regards. Mary, Alice, Katlaughing, BillD, TinOklahoma, Muse... thank you all for joining me in my front yard tonight. Apparently Pete is hosting the next party in Angola in June of 01 for a Solar eclipse. I'll bring the beer, who's got the sunscreen and shadow boxes covered? gallactic grins to you all, pj
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21 Jan 00 - 02:04 AM (#166113) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Tom on Comfort Hey Y'all, I've just come in from watching it from some friends' backyard. (St. Louis, MO, clear as a bell, chilly cold winter night, no snow on the ground though) PJ, what a great story!! Bless all yer luna-tetched hearts! Tom PS, Oh yeah, I haven't been around too much lately, this is my first posting since before Winter Solstice, I think. Nice to visit with you again, esp. on such a magical night. |
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21 Jan 00 - 02:23 AM (#166116) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: p.j. Tom on Comfort-- welcome back. I fade in and out my ownself, but Mudcat is definitely the place to be when thoughts of global community cross your mind, huh? I'm glad you checked in tonight. I'm curious about your name-- I'm picturing either a man named Tom living on a tiny island called Comfort (could either be in Maine, the Florida Keys, or British Columbia...) Or maybe you're known among friends for always being pickled on Southern Comfort? Or perhaps you have your laptop perched atop the saddlehorn of your trusty steed "Comfort", who's been your faithful companion all these years on the dusty trail you call home on the open range... Set me straight, Tom on Comfort. I'm intrigued. :o) pj |
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21 Jan 00 - 10:36 AM (#166208) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Peg thank you all for sharing your experience of the eclipse...I am in Boston, where it was much too cloudy to see anything, sadly... I normally find eclipses very exciting and magical to watch; I love to ponder what ancient peoples must have thought witnessing such a strange event...eclipses of old were frought with mystical meaning, and often attributed with the power to cause great upheaval in the world... last time we had an eclipse of this type, also with the moon in Leo, as it is now, was last year just around the time when our President was reeling from narrowly missing impeachment for, oh, getting a few blow jobs in the privacy of his office... Clinton is a Leo and some astrologers believe his solar affinity with that eclipse helped create positive energy for his situation...
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21 Jan 00 - 10:46 AM (#166210) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Blackcat2 We watched the eclipe in Florida too - but not for too long - it was in the high 40's by 11PM - brrrrrrrr! The news on a local station was running promos throughout the night to the effect - "The lunar eclipse: Watch it LIVE on Channel 9 News at 11!" must have been a slow news day . . . pax yall |
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21 Jan 00 - 11:05 AM (#166216) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: catspaw49 I want to thank all of you who made the eclipse a little more real. We have about 6" of snow and were on the tail of the front when the eclipse occured....a hundred miles further south and we'd have seen it. Just too much cover, but the cold is so bitter right now,,,chill is about 15 below. But thanks to PJ and all I feel better. Nice to be here, even with all the assorted recent crappola. This morning is still cold and we expect more snow tomorrow when another front shows up and it warms to a balmy 25! ......And Blackcat, my heart bleeds!!!!(:<)) Spaw |
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21 Jan 00 - 11:12 AM (#166217) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Blackcat2 Spaw, Just remember me when it's Labor Day and I've been through 4 months of 90-100 deg & 100% humidity. That's why we have weather like today - high of 72, clear blue skies, a light breeze, etc. T-shirt and shorts weather all weekend long - probably'll be a lot of people mowing there green lawns tomorrow - me, I'm going camping and tubing at Wekiva Springs where the water temp is always 72! Nothing like floating down a lazy river, singing songs and watching for gators. pax yall |
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21 Jan 00 - 11:26 AM (#166222) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Penny S. Am I envious! Set the alarm for this morning, and there was 100% cloud cover. Still Penny |
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21 Jan 00 - 11:34 AM (#166223) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Penny S. Space view |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:42 PM (#166236) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: sophocleese I figured the minus 18 C temperatures before wind chill were a little extreme for outside viewing. So I cleverly moved the living room couch bed to the window so I and the kids could lie snuggled in bed and watch it. Nice to see and let the kids fall asleep where they were. I dozed and woke infrequently to see how the eclipse was going. It seemed so close and touchable as an orange ball. Unfortuneately the draft from the window meant that we woke in the morning cramped and huddled at the far end of the bed. It would have been neat to see it where there was no street light to interfere with the moonlight, or where snowplows didn't come driving along the street with flashing blue lights. |
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21 Jan 00 - 12:59 PM (#166243) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Penny S. I remember the second one I saw, from a churchyard in Kent, and that sense of it hanging so close, looking really three dimensional instead of a flat white disc. The sky around it was dark, and it stood out against the stars in a way it cannot usually do because of the intensity of its own glow. That one was like a great pink pearl, and almost touchable, as both LEJ and sophocleese experienced. I'm glad that is a general impression. The third one, seen from a village hall car park in Kent was interrupted by the police, alerted by neighbourhood watch. It was fairly obvious what we were doing though, with cameras set up, and a strange appearance in the sky ahead of their car. The crescent was parallel to the ground, with the very dark red disc within it - it made me think of a Grail vision, and lunar eclipses as a possible source for the myth. The police suggested we should go as soon as the eclipse was over, so we did. Last night I anticipated lying in bed watching out of my picture window, but alas, it was not to be, and I shall have to rely on your eyes instead - much better than mere newspaper accounts. Thank you Penny |
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21 Jan 00 - 03:36 PM (#166305) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Little dorritt you are all raving mad!- if you think I am going to get up at four o'clock in the morning then forget it |
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21 Jan 00 - 04:01 PM (#166318) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Alice Penny, the dark red is the way it looked here in Montana last night. I kept thinking of "blood red moon". We had good timing, early enough to watch it before bedtime. The sky was clear and stars could also be seen. alice |
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21 Jan 00 - 08:42 PM (#166428) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: Lonesome EJ I think there was more to the sensation of proximity than just the visual change in the moon's appearance. I could visualize the dark column of Earth's shadow stretching through the miles of space to create a kind of tether to our satellite."A bridge for restless spirits..." |
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03 Feb 00 - 12:43 PM (#172888) Subject: RE: BS: Astonmical / Moon query... From: jeremie Sorry to be late... I haven't seen anything, here in Paris , because of the clouds. Well, I can see there are many astronomy lovers here ! Are there proffesionnals too ? (I am student in astronomy) jeremie |