Monday, June 13, 2011

Very Long Total Lunar Eclipse coming Wednesday

This montage of images taken by skywatcher Kieth Burns shows the Dec. 20, 2010 total lunar eclipse. The photos won a NASA contest to become an official NASA/JPL wallpaper for the public.

This photo of the Dec. 20 total lunar eclipse by Jimmy Westlake shows the blue edge to Earth's shadow set against the reddened moon.
This month's full moon will pass almost directly through the center
 of Earth's shadowon Wednesday in what will be an unusually
 long total eclipse of the moon. 
The lunar eclipse will occur just two weeks after a June 1 

partial solar eclipse, when the moon blocked part of the sun 
as viewed from Arctic regions. The eclipse won't be visible
from North America due to its timing, which places the event

 in the daylight hours when the moon is behind the local horizon. 
But the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth will be facing the moon 
during the eclipse. This hemisphere, centered on a spot in the Indian
Ocean to the east of the island nation of Madagascar, 
will have a ringside seat for this event. 
[ Video: Inside the June 15 Total LunarEclipse 
Since the Earth rotates during the several hours of the eclipse,

 more than a hemisphere sees stages of it. 


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