Lunar Eclipse December 10, 2011


Tomorrow, December 10, 2011 there will be a total lunar eclipse which unfortunately will not be viewable from the east coast of the United States. If you live in the western United States, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Asia you should be able to catch the whole eclipse. 


 Pictures via NASA's Eclipse Website

Fear not though, you can watch the whole eclipse online via the SLOOH SpaceCamera free of charge by clicking the link and selecting the “On Air” button in the upper right corner if it doesn't automatically forward you to the event. SLOOH will broadcast this celestial event starting at 8:00am EST on Saturday December 10, 2011. SLOOH provides a countdown timer if you click the above link, and when they start airing the button to watch will appear.

For those on the western coast of America you may get to see a rare event referred to as a selenelion which is when you will get to see the eclipsed moon and the sun in the sky at the same time as the sun is rising and the moon is setting. This isn't usually possible to see since an eclipse is possible due to the moon and the sun having to be directly opposite each other in the sky. Due to atmospheric physics and geometry it IS possible. The atmosphere acts as a lens curving the light around the Earth allowing you to still see the moon for a minute or two after it has actually set, same goes for the rising sun being visible for a minute or two before it actually rises.

I would love to see pictures from anyone who may catch this lunar eclipse. If you send me a picture please include any info (name, date, location, time, website, twitter handle, or whatever you want me to link to/post below the photo) that I can credit to here on the blog. If you get pics of the lunar eclipse you can send them to me via Facebook, Twitter, G+, or e-mail. If I get a few pictures I will post them up here with the information you provide for the picture.

Video provided by NASA's Science Cast on youtube providing some good information on tomorrow's Lunar Eclipse.


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