PHOTOS ADDED - Success from ASO - A Total Lunar Eclipse

NEW!!
SEE POSTED PHOTOS OF THE ECLIPSE BELOW!

Arkansas Sky Observatory, atop Petit Jean Mountain in Conway County, Arkansas, has a
Christmas present that nature will unwrap for you a few days before Christmas. And this
present can be enjoyed by the whole family....no fighting over the controls, no looking
through the boxes for the batteries and no receipts needed for a return.

You cannot give this present back.

It is a rare combination: the deep, dark night of the Winter Solstice on December 20,
2010, the timing of a bright winter full moon, and the precise angle of the Earth, the
moon and the sun to create one of the most spectacular sky shows afforded to mankind: The
Total Lunar Eclipse.

Our Christmas 2010 celestial gift of a sky show that will be surely remembered actually
takes place AFTER midnight, on December 20-21 when viewers using only their eyes or
perhaps just a pair of regular binoculars will be treated to the MOON moving into the
large and dark shadow of the EARTH as cast through space nearly 238,000 miles from the
light of our SUN.

The moon is moving rapidly around the Earth eastward and only during a full moon, and ONLY
if the sun's light is aligned precisely coming across the large sphere of our planet, can
the moon cross into the Earth's large shadow.

The outer shadow (or "penumbra") of the earth is not dense nor dark and therefore
observers will not see the larger more obscure shadow during the late hours of Monday,
December 20.....it is only a few minutes AFTER MIDNIGHT on Tuesday, December 21 when the
moon begins to glide into the very dark "umbral" shadow, appearing as though something is
taking a huge cosmic "bite" out of the moon.

The last lunar eclipse of 2010 is an ideal one for observers throughout Arkansas and North
America. The eclipse occurs in the constellation of TAURUS, the Bull and only a few days
before the closest approach of the moon to Earth this month. The eclipse is essentially
an "all-night" event, beginning just after midnight local time and lasting until the
pre-dawn hours the entire morning beginning in the late hours of on December 21.

The Moon's path as it travels about the Earth each month takes it through the northern
half of Earth's umbral shadow during this eclipse. Although the eclipse is not central,
the total phase still lasts a whopping 72 minutes. The Moon, therefore, will stay
eclipsed in the Earth's shadow for over ONE HOUR, making this a very long and enjoyable
event. The Moon's path through Earth's shadow is shown in the NASA diagram with this
article. The timings (in Central Standard Time) of the major eclipse phases are listed
below.

Tuesday morning, December 21, Central Standard Time:

Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 11:29:17 p.m. Dec 20 (this is the faint outer shadow, may not be visible)
Partial Eclipse Begins: 12:32:37 (first dark "bite" out of the moon)
Total Eclipse Begins: 01:40:47 (moon is now totally in Earth shadow!)
Greatest Eclipse: 02:16:57 (the moon will be as deeply covered by the shadow as possible)
Total Eclipse Ends: 02:53:08 (moon has moved out of the central shadow)
Partial Eclipse Ends: 04:01:20 (last "bite" out of the moon is seen....back to "Full Moon!")
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 05:04:31

At the instant of greatest eclipse (02:17 CST) the Moon will be nearly overhead for the
western USA, but will be in the western skies for the central states. Note that the
southern half of the Moon will likely appear much darker than the northern half because
the southern half will be more central to the Earth's shadow. Since we have no way of
knowing exactly what the Earth's atmospheric conditions will be like on this evening and
morning, there is no way to predict accurately what the eclipse will "look like" in terms
of darkness and color.

My predictions are for a very orange-red and fairly bright eclipse with the dark lunar
markings being clearly visible with the naked eye and binoculars, since the winter air
over the northern hemisphere is typically much cleaner and allows for the sun's light to
pass through the "atmospheric lens" much less obstructed. In an ideal situation, the moon
should appear bright red from the refraction, or "lensing prism effect" of the Earth's
air. Volcanic activity, pollution, and global-wide air moisture content contribute to the
changing colors of all lunar eclipses.

During totality, the winter constellations are well placed for viewing so a number of
bright stars can be easily seen as guideposts: Pollux, in Gemini, is 25° east of the
eclipsed Moon, while Betelgeuse, a brilliant red star in the constellation of Orion, is
16° to the south, Aldebaran, another red giant star in Taurus, is 20° to the west, while
yellowish Capella is 24° north of the eclipsed moon.

The entire event is visible from North America, Mexico and western South America.

Note that this is the last total lunar eclipse until December 10, 2011, almost one full
year from now, but this next eclipse will be visible in its entirety only in the far
western USA and not visible in central and eastern states.

The best way to observe and enjoy this eclipse?

Grab some hot coffee, tea, or chocolate, a lawn chair and perhaps a pair of good
binoculars. The day before, invite over some friends or neighbors and keep the kids up
late....school is out, so this is a good time to get an early start on the celebration of
the Christmas season. Nothing fancy is needed....just your eyes, your imagination and
your belief that the beautiful night sky was put here for all of us to learn from and
enjoy for all generations.

Merry Christmas from Arkansas Sky Observatory

Dr. Clay
_____
Arkansas Sky Observatories
MPC H45 - Petit Jean Mountain South
MPC H41 - Petit Jean Mountain
MPC H43 - Conway West
http://www.arksky.org/

*****
NOTES ON THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS:
Worst of conditions.....I went out every 30 minutes and holes began to appear at
mid-eclipse during totality.

I was able to start shooting at about 3 a.m. through heavy fog and low fast-moving clouds
and got the shots you see here. The times are indicated by the photo labels; the money shot was
taken just as the moon was leaving totality and re-emerging into the sun's full light!

We were lucky....Patsy, Bear (my observatory mascot Corgi) and I suffered through the clouds of
night but it was worth it.

These were taken with the wide field high resolution 110mm APO refractor that rides
piggyback on the big telescope; the camera was a digital Olympus shooting afocally
(projected through an eyepiece directly into the lens of the camera) and the exposures
were constantly being adjusted because of the changing light of the moon AND the clouds
and fog.

We were able to actually photograph the moon many times through the clouds when you COULD
NOT see it with the eye.

The totality shots (the orange ones) were on the order of 3-5 seconds each, while the END
shot (full moon out of eclipse) was 1/1000 second!! Now that is variation.