(meteorobs) My Eclipse Report . . .

[Mikhail Maslov]

Hi, Joe,
You mentioned that it was a very bright eclipse as well as you saw only
very first and last minutes of totality. This time the Moon was not
deep in the umbra, probably something comparable to the last November
eclipse, which was very shallow. Maybe at the middle of totality the
Moon was much darker, because its maximum phase was quite deep.

Best reagrds, Mikhail Maslov.


Sac> December will mark 40 years since I saw my very first total lunar eclipse.  
Sac> Just a few hours ago, I witnessed my thirteenth totality.  This one might have 
Sac> come close to perhaps ranking near the top of my personal list so far as as 
Sac> brightness and coloration is concerned.  Prior to this eclipse, I had placed 
Sac> last November's eclipse at the top of my list (Danjon L rating of 3.5; a stellar 
Sac> magnitude of -3.0), but from what I saw tonight, this one seemed to be nearly 
Sac> as bright and colorful as that one.

Sac> I viewed this eclipse from two locations.  During the first half of the 
Sac> eclipse, I watched it from the studios of News 12 Westchester, in Yonkers, NY.  The 
Sac> timing of this event had the eclipse reaching totality during our 10 o'clock 
Sac> "Night Edition" newscast.  I had arranged with our News Director, Janine Rose 
Sac> and Operations Manager, Arnie Reif, to have a camera trained on the Moon 
Sac> during our newscast.  Everytime we cut to, or came out of a commercial break, we 
Sac> showed the progress of the eclipse.  Of course, I also discussed what was going 
Sac> on with the eclipse during our regular weathercast.

Sac> I was frequently in and out of the studio during the early stages of the 
Sac> eclipse.  I was most impressed by the fact that at 9:30 p.m. EDT, with less than 
Sac> one-quarter of the Moon's diameter into the umbra, that with 7 x 35 binoculars 
Sac> I could detect a subtle reddish hue on the shadowed portion of the Moon.  

Sac> By 10 p.m., there was no doubt about coloration . . . a very distinct 
Sac> brownish-red color was evident across most of the eclipsed portion of the Moon.

Sac> At 10:30 p.m., our show had ended and quickly rushed out to the parking lot 
Sac> to my car.  I planned a "quick getaway" so that I could get back to my home in 
Sac> Putnam Valley, NY so that I could catch the final 20 or 25 minutes of 
Sac> totality. We were already seven minutes into totality when I got to my car and paused 
Sac> to get a look at the now-totally eclipsed Moon before driving off.  With the 
Sac> naked eye and through the binoculars the deep red color was now very pronounced 
Sac> and contrasted beautifully with a bright bluish-white northern rim.

Sac> As I traveled north, I ended up driving right under a blanket of 
Sac> broken-to-overcast skies.  Upon arriving home just after 11:20 p.m. EDT, I could see very 
Sac> little of the stars or the eclipsed Moon, but within ten minutes, there were 
Sac> larger and more frequent breaks in the cloud cover which allowed me to get some 
Sac> good views through my 10.1" Dobsonian.  

Sac> I was periodically able to get some good views during the final 15 minutes of 
Sac> totality, but I also took a break of a few minutes to watch the Red Sox win 
Sac> the World Series (at 11:40 p.m. -- five minutes before the end of totality).  
Sac> Toward the end of totality, the Moon appeared a deep reddish-orange which faded 
Sac> into a dull whitish-gray rim that in itself contained a pale, yet evident 
Sac> trace of blue.  As totality ended, the bright rim produced a beautiful "diamond 
Sac> ring" effect to the naked eye; so bright and diffuse was the upper limb that it 
Sac> was next to impossible to determine just exactly when totality ended using 
Sac> the 10.1".

Sac> Through increasingly clearer skies, I watched the umbra progress off the 
Sac> Moon's disk during the next hour.  I could still see some hints of red color in 
Sac> the umbra as late as 12:34 a.m. EDT -- or only 20 minutes before last umbral 
Sac> contact.  Last contact itself was almost impossible to adequately time because 
Sac> the umbra was so diffuse in nature. 

Sac> It is unfortunate that I had to move around so much, thereby missing a good 
Sac> chunk of the total phase.  It is also unfortunate that cloudiness severely 
Sac> hindered the view at times as well.  

Sac> Nonetheless, from what I saw shortly after the onset of totality, as well as 
Sac> the final 15 minutes of total eclipse, I would have to say that this eclipse 
Sac> almost matched last November's in terms of unusual brightness and coloration.  

Sac> Unfortunately, it will now a while before we get another total eclipse that 
Sac> appears so high up and in a dark sky.  The March 3, 2007 eclipse will occur low 
Sac> in the east just after local sundown; the August 28, 2007 eclipse is just the 
Sac> reverse . . . low in the west just before sunrise.  Not until February 20, 
Sac> 2008 while we have an eclipse with such similar favorable circumstances as this. 
 

Sac> -- joe rao