Who will see the total lunar eclipse of August 27-28?
During a total lunar eclipse, at the deepest part of the eclipse, the moon looks reddish in color. Here's why. This photo shows the lunar eclipse of Oct. 27, 2004. Photo:
Doug Murray
See a larger version of this image.
Monday, August 27, 2007. For us in North America, a full moon and total eclipse happens tonight.
The moon will become totally engulfed by the Earth’s dark shadow for one–and–a–half hours, with an hour–long partial eclipse both preceding and following the total eclipse. To view this eclipse, you have to be on the nighttime side of the globe when the eclipse is taking place. A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon, when the moon stands opposite the sun. So when the sun is up from Earth’s daylight side – at eclipse time – the moon is below the horizon.
North and South America will see this eclipse in the wee hours before sunrise tomorrow. The farther west you live in the Americas, the more you’ll see of the eclipse. Western North America and Hawaii will get to see the entire eclipse. Just be aware that it’ll start late tonight according to clocks in Hawaii.
Meanwhile – across the international dateline – in eastern Asia, Indonesia and western Australia, the lunar eclipse will start at sunset on August 28. Depending on atmospheric conditions, the totally eclipsed moon can exhibit a coppery color, or it can look quite dark. The color comes from sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere onto the face of the moon.
What time is the eclipse where I live?
Why the moon looks red during a total lunar eclipse
Why isn’t there a eclipse at every full moon?
Mars hoax: double moon in late August 2007?
The times for the lunar eclipse are listed below in Universal Time. To convert Universal Time to your time zone, subtract 4 hours for Eastern Daylight time, 5 hours for Central Daylight time, 6 hours for Mountain Daylight Time, and 7 hours for Pacific Daylight Time. If you live outside the mainland United States or are unsure of your time zone, click here.
Lunar eclipse on August 28, 2007
Beginning of partial eclipse: 8:51 a.m. UT
Beginning of total eclipse: 9:52 a.m. UT
Middle of total eclipse: 10:37 a.m. UT
End of total eclipse: 11:22 a.m. UT
End of partial eclipse: 12:23 p.m. UT
Example: Austin, Texas resides in the Central Time Zone. Subtracting 5 hours from Universal Time places the total phase of the eclipse at 4:52 to 6:22 a.m. CDT. (That’s 5:52 to 7:22 a.m. EDT; 3:52 to 5:22 a.m. MDT; and 2:52 to 4:22 a.m. PDT). The US Naval Observatory tells you the moonset time for your area. In Austin, the moon sets at 7:13 a.m. on August 28.
Map of the August 28, 2007 total lunar eclipse
Animation of the August 28, 2007 total lunar eclipse
Here you go….August 28th lunar eclipse.
Can you explain the “Double Moon” and when we can view it?
thanks
Candis, I think you’re referring to the email that’s going around, suggesting that Mars will be as big as the moon in late August. Not so! This is a hoax. Here’s more from Earth & Sky’s Larry Sessions on the erroneous email about Mars as big as the moon.
By the way … Mars never appears as large as the moon from Earth.
Best,
Deborah
Thanks for the info on the double moon. My wife was telling me to look up info on when and where…You guys saved lots of pain!
hey thanks i thought it was going to be a double to where we could see both but its really a lunar eclipse?
hey thanks i thought it was going to be a double to where we could see both but its really a lunar eclipse?
Josiah,
Yes, there will be a total eclipse of the full moon on Aug. 27-28. According to a hoax e-mail that’s been circulating far and wide, Mars is suppose to be coming closest to Earth on this same date. If this were true, yes, we’d see the eclipsed moon and Mars in the same part of the sky together. Nonetheless, Mars still would not look anywhere close to the size of the full moon. In other words, the double moon thing is hoax. For a more in-depth discussion on the subject, scroll upward and click on this article by Larry Sessions: "Mars hoax: double moon in late August 2007?":http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/space/071734/mars-as-big-as-the-moon/
Boo, South Austin was really cloudy. I woke up at 6:15pm to see a cloudy sky and no sign of the moon at all. I was hoping to catch the tail end of the total eclipse, but it looks like I’ll have to wait until next time. Maybe by then I’ll have a telescope.
I sat with my son and ate breakfast with the eclipse. It was 5:50am and it looked like it was in full eclipse. I live in Sarasota Florida. When my other son woke up at 6:30am we went out to have a look and the moon had gone under the horizon.
cynthia
the lunar eclipse is amazing. first time in my life to see/ view such natural phenomenon.
uaxx_09, cynthia and sglasson,
Thank you for sharing your eclipse adventures with Earth & Sky! Cheers to uaxx_09 for seeing your first total lunar eclipse. sglasson, you’ll have another chance on Feb. 21, 2008.
Bruce
It was cool watching the eclipse but I caught a cold or something and my eyes were watery and when ever I looked at the moon they beame more watery so I did not really enjoy it as much as could have.