Who will see the eclipse on December 10, 2011
During a lunar eclipse, you’ll see the Earth’s shadow creeping across the moon’s face. The shadow will appear dark, like a bite taken out of a cookie, until the shadow completely covers the moon. Then, during the breathtaking moments of totality, the shadow on the moon’s face often suddenly changes. Instead of dark, it appears red. Why?
Top ten tips for watching the total lunar eclipse of December 10, 2011
Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2007. Image by Joshua Valcarcel. (Wikimedia Commons)
The reason stems from the very air we breathe. If the Earth had no air, then Earth’s shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse would appear black. The presence of Earth’s air means that, during a lunar eclipse, sunlight can filter through Earth’s atmosphere onto the shadow on the moon. This filtered sunlight makes the moon appear red during a total eclipse.
But red isn’t the only color of a totally eclipsed moon. An eclipsed moon can appear brown, red, orange or yellow. The color depends on the presence of dust and clouds in Earth’s atmosphere. If there has been a major volcanic eruption, for example, the shadow on the moon will appear dark throughout an eclipse. In December 1992, not long after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, there was so much dust in Earth’s atmosphere that the totally eclipsed moon could barely be seen.
Can anyone know in advance how red the moon will appear during a total lunar eclipse? Not precisely. Before an eclipse takes place, you’ll often hear people speculating about it. Still, no one knows for certain how red the moon will appear when eclipse time comes. That uncertainty is part of the fun of eclipses, so enjoy! And watch for the red moon during a lunar eclipse.
do you think there is no vaccum in nature.
there is no vacum in nature except in space of course!
…except for the solar wind, photons and virtual particles etc. etc. Google “what is the density of space” (1 hydrogen atom every 16 cubic cm, apparently!)
I don’t think you understand what a vacuum is. It isn’t a complete lack of matter and energy, it’s simply a difference in pressure. A lower pressure is always technically a vacuum, but generally a vacuum is considered to be contained in something. I’m surprised someone who knows what virtual particles are would get something like this wrong.
As for Adeyemi’s question: Every time you take a breath, your lungs create a vacuum inside of them by expanding. Squid and ocotpi create a vacuum with the suction cups on their tentacles to stick to things. Even more natural are geodes. If you don’t know what a geode is, google it. Geodes begin forming as molten rock. The outer shell cools first, holding it’s shape. The inside cools afterward and crystalizes. Because the cooled outer shell can’t be pulled in, the inside pulls away from the center as it cools, creating almost a complete lack of air inside.
red moon everydody has diffrent stories and beliefs about the red moon my friends get all confused when I tell them its just the earths shadow
The moon looks red during a total lunar eclipse for the same reason the sun looks red at sunset. Pure sunlight (basically white light) is made up of a rainbow of colours. Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light thanks to dust particles in the upper atmosphere, making the sky blue and the sun yellow. Red light is scattered less (at sunset you are looking along a line of sight to the sun that passes through more atmosphere, so more light is scattered – including yellow light – and the same sun now looks red). Normally when we look at the moon, we see sunlight reflected off its surface. In a lunar eclipse, sunlight passing through our atmosphere on its way to the moon has the blue component removed by our atmosphere, so the moon is illuminated with a red-ish light. Note that a rising/setting moon can look slightly orange too, just like the sun at sunset.
wauuu es expertacular nunca habia bisto hargo tan expertacular
this info is defiantly true the atmosphere refracts the light from the sun and causes the moon to change colors.
The moon looks red during total lunar eclipse because Congress has no funding to power up the light that makes it bright. This is due to financial mismanagement of two ruling parties: ‘the party of no’ and ‘the party that can never make up its mind’. And oh, a 3+ trillion dollar national debt. While at it let’s also blame the Chinese: they want a world wide red idology, so they forced our congress to dim the moonlight.
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Interesting, would have liked to see it.
I don’t why people have to make a political statement about everything that goes on. For your information Occupy, this event was global, not American. If you have nothing relevent to say, then don’t say anything.
I agree hornet118—holy fanatical obsession Occupy
I think Occupy was just kidding … IMHO
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