Tonight, A Total Eclipse of The Moon!

During a total eclipse, the Earth blocks nearly all direct sunlight from reaching the moon.

Indirect sunlight still manages to make it there filtering out most of the light, except for much of the red or orange hues. This makes the moon appear a rusty, reddy, orange colour,

The amount of dust and clouds in Earth's atmosphere during the total eclipse determine what colour the moon appears. It could be red, orange, yellow or brown.

Our moon ranges from roughly 355,000 to 405,000 kms away from Earth during its orbit, Tonight be just 357,000 km away. This makes it look 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than when it's farther away. Both a Supermoon and Lunar Eclipse are fairly common on their own, but this pairing occurs together only once every few decades.

The lunar eclipse and Supermoon will happen simultaneously, an event the world hasn't seen in more than three decades. The last one was in 1982. 

It you miss tonights celestial show will have to wait about 18 years for your chance to catch another Supermoon eclipse, which occurs in 2033.

Dress warm tonight!

Eclipse of the Super Moon

This Sunday September 27, the Full Moon plunges through Earth’s shadow for the second time this year. It’s the biggest Full Moon of 2015.
The lunar eclipse begins when the Moon starts to enter the dark umbra portion of Earth’s shadow at 9:07 p.m. that is when visually you can detect a subtle darkening of the Moon’s left edge.
For the next 64 minutes, the shadow creeps across the Moon’s face. Totality begins once the entire Moon resides inside the umbra at 10:11 p.m. Earth’s satellite should take on an orange-red hue — the light from all our planet’s sunrises and sunsets — until totality ends at 11:23 p.m. The partial phase wraps up when the Moon exits the umbra at 12:27 a.m.
At 10:11 is when totality begins. So this is the best time to look until 11:23 while the Moon is completely immersed in the Earth’s shadow. From a dark sight I appreciate watching the stars and Milky Way pop into view.

Your backyard should offer a nice a view, no special equipment required. Simply step outside, and enjoy the Moon’s colorful show. If you would like to come by and view through my telescope, message me!

Falls 2015 Dazzling Morning Display!

Jupiter passed on the far side of the Sun less than a month ago, but it already has returned to view before dawn in the east sky. The giant planet rises about 80 minutes before our sun. Shining brightly, it stands out even in twilight below Venus and Mars. The three morning planets will undergo a spectacular series of conjunctions during October. A conjunction is a close grouping of celestial sky objects. Here is an evening shot I took showing the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the western sky on July 1, 2015.

Our sister planet Venus reaches its greatest brilliancy of the year September 21.  Mars lies to its lower left, glowing in a lovely orange color contrast. Meanwhile, Jupiter hugs the horizon 10° below Mars, the span of your closed fist held at arm’s length. Mercury joins the planetary trio in October’s morning sky for the most gorgeous planetary lineup of 2015. A crescent Moon briefly joins the crowd, jumping from one planet to the next in four consecutive days beginning on October 9^th.