Pre-Halloween treat: Lunar eclipse Wednesday (Houston Chronicle) - The bright lights and sprawling suburbs of Houston typically obscure most celestial events, making urban skywatching a poor pursuit. Wednesday, however, offers an enticing exception. A total lunar eclipse will begin at 9:23 p.m. and last for more than an hour. This event, during which the moon falls in the Earth's shadow, is easily visible from even the most well-lit neighborhoods. It's also relatively rare that such an eclipse is visible from North America and comes early in the evening, but after sunset, to make it accessible for families. A viewable total eclipse of the moon in the evening only comes along every three to five years, astronomers say. Houston won't have another chance to view a total lunar eclipse until March 2007. As the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, an eerie coppery or orange darkness will creep across the surface of the moon. "The timing is appropriate with Halloween coming up," said Reggie Dufour, an astronomer at Rice University. "It's exciting. It's something that kids will remember." A critical component, of course, is the weather. The colors that appear on the moon will depend on weather conditions and the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Also, full cloud cover will obscure the event. Forecasters are expecting partly cloudy skies for the entire Houston area, which should afford good viewing. -----------------
if my baby isn't born tonight, it will be amazing. i'm betting on it. the eclipse will bring forth MadMax's 2nd son. we'll see. (but if he can hold on until Monday, i save $1000 out of pocket because of new insurance taking effect!!! come on baby...daddy needs a new pair of shoes!!)
Looks like a little rain is coming in off the coast moving over Galveston, but it is a really small system. It might be coming right at me in Clear Lake though . Getting nervous... Go Rockets!!!
As much as I'd love to see this, I can't muster up the energy to leave my couch (while watching the World Series), trudge upstairs to put on some pants, and walk all the way to the parking lot to get a clear view of this thing. I'll just check it out on NASA's web site or something.
just checked it out. Took a few steps out into my backyard. It's cool, expecially with the haze in the sky. Phases of the lunar eclipse [CDT] Moon enters penumbra 7:06 Shadow appears 7:54 Moon enters umbra 8:14 75 percent coverage 9:02 Totality begins 9:23 Middle of totality 10:04 Total eclipse ends 10:45 75 percent coverage 11:02 Moon leaves umbra 11:54 Shadow fades away 12:14 Moon leaves penumbra 1:02
I didn't think I'd get to see it here in Austin because it was nastily overcast and going through the nightly thunderstorm we've had for the past week or so, but it cleared up about 98% and is perfect now. It looks pretty cool.
