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Re: (meteorobs) Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21
Robert,
You must have driven right by me. My observations
were the same as yours.
I'll let you know ahead of time if I plan on doing any
more observing up in that part of the San Gabriels.
Bob V.
--- Robert Gardner <rendrag@earthlinkdot net> wrote:
> Southern California is under a persistent cloud
> cover. So when the view
> from my backyard had no moon I headed for the San
> Gabrial Mountains and
> stopped at the parking lot of a place named Red Box
> at about 4:00 UT
> with the moon shining through a thin veil of clouds.
> It really didn't
> look too bad through 7X50 binoculars. At 4:21 UT a
> meteor of magnitude
> 1.0 shown through these thin clouds so it must have
> been a really bright
> one if it had been in the clear. Its path was about
> 8 degrees. At 4:30
> UT the moon "broke through" to a beautiful clear
> segment of the sky.
> It was fantastic because of the large number of
> stars I could see in
> this very clear break with dark adapted eyes. Color
> is very subjective
> but I would describe the central Earth's Umbra as a
> dark terra-cotta.
> The brightening of the limbs gives the moon a very
> accented roundness. I
> was surprised at how much brighter the Southern limb
> was than the
> Northern limb. This became particularly apparent
> when the moon was again
> shrouded in clouds some 8 or 10 minutes later when
> it was again shining
> through a layer of clouds and looked like a crescent
> moon. I was
> surprised at this because I knew that the moon was
> completely immersed
> in the Earth's umbra but not quite kissing the
> center. I was quite
> pleased despite the "hide and seek" game played with
> the clouds.
> The Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jul 16 will be
> much better in that
> it will be in the center of the Earth's Umbra at
> maximum. However that
> one will be visible on the other side of the earth
> from that which this
> one was visible. Lucky Asians and Australians! I
> think it would be
> worth traveling a long distance to see.
> I hope all of you
> have clear skies.
>
> Robert Gardner
>
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