Monday, August 27, 2007 - Page updated at 02:07 AM
We'll have front-row seat for lunar eclipse
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
The Associated Press
Lunar eclipse
Viewable: in North and South America, especially in the West, beginning at
1:51 a.m. Tuesday.
DENVER - The Earth's shadow will creep across the moon's surface early
Tuesday, slowly eclipsing it and turning it to shades of orange and red.
And skywatchers in the West will have a front-row seat: The total lunar
eclipse will be especially visible here. People in South America, other
parts of North America, the Pacific islands, eastern Asia, Australia and
New Zealand also will be able to view it if skies are clear.
Skies are expected to be clear in the Seattle area during the eclipse.
There's no need to leave the city to see the event, said Tim McKechnie of
the Seattle Astronomical Society. The moon will be due south, about 45
degrees above the horizon, when the partial eclipse starts at 1:51 a.m.
The total eclipse starts at 2:52 a.m. and ends at 4:22 a.m. The partial
eclipse ends at 5:24 a.m.
The eclipse is the second this year. People in Europe, Africa or the
Middle East, who had the best view of the last total lunar eclipse in
March, won't see this one because the moon will have set there when the
partial eclipse begins.
An eclipse occurs when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking
the sun's light. The relative positions of the Earth and the moon make
this a rare event.
Because the Earth is bigger than the moon, the process of the Earth's
shadow taking a bigger and bigger "bite" out of the moon, totally
eclipsing it before the shadow recedes, lasts about 3 ½ hours, said Doug
Duncan, director of the University of Colorado's Fiske Planetarium. The
total eclipse phase, in which the moon has an orange or reddish glow,
lasts about 1 ½ hours.
The full eclipse will be visible across the United States, but East Coast
viewers will only have about a half-hour to see it before the sun begins
to rise and the moon sets. Skywatchers in the West will get the full show.
In eastern Asia, the moon will rise in various stages of eclipse.
During the full eclipse, the moon won't be completely dark because some
light still reaches it around the edges of the Earth.
The next total lunar eclipse occurs Feb. 21, 2008, and will be visible
from the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Seattle Times staff reporter David Heath contributed to this report.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003855118_eclipse27.html
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