Lunar Eclipse!!!!!!!!!! OFF TOPIC

[G Paine]

Also, there is an American spy satellite about to crash that may be visible.

Actually, US Navy shot that satellite down with a missle on eclipse night. Space.com reported that folks in Hawaii watching the eclipse saw numerous debris trails re-entering the atmosphere. Way cool!!?? 

http://www.space.com/news/080221-sat-shoot-spot.html

US Navy Video of the shot (you may need to install Flash player to view this)

http://www.space.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=080221-satellite-kill

[Red Horse]

concretelackey ,

My thoughts on Summer in the South are limited because I've not spent a Summer in the south, but I have spent many in the South West and I find the dry heat very enjoyable, I'd walk for miles during my desert hikes when I lived in AZ.

I plan on a move back there after I sell my house.

Thanks for asking though!!

[rolleiman]

Rotor, Ryan,

Thanks! I would love to have a tracking telescope for these kinds of pictures but the camera and lenses have kind of busted my photography budget for a year or so. The one from last night was taken with a 50-135mm f2.8 lens on a 2x teleconverter amounting to a 270mm at f5.6 and the picture was cropped. The full photo, the moon is pretty much an orange dot. I have to credit the sky though. For the past couple months we can't even see the sky here but last night, there wasn't a mist of cloud anywhere in the air. It was also about 10 degrees F so I didn't spend much time looking to see what else could be found. Anyway, Wanted to use the fast lens as the photo from last August was taken with a 2200mm lens at about f21, is NOT cropped but as you can see, leaves a lot to be desired. The bottom photo was also taken just before dawn.

Glad to share.. Thanks again.  

[David Woodard]

I just had my first cadbury egg of the season, and have realized I completely forgot the lunar eclipse.  So much for enjoying my creamy egg... Oh well, I will have another tomorrow night.

[MisterBeasley]

We're up at Sunday River Ski Area in Maine for a couple of days.  Fortunately, we had very clear weather last night:

And the moon, on the crest of the new man-made snow

Gave a luster of Halloween to the objects below.

 

Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

[tomikawaTT]

Murphy is alive and well!

Here in Sin City we have 330+ clear (as in, "totally cloudless,") nights a year.

Last night was NOT one of them!

Oh, well...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with no plan for eclipse lighting effects)

[concretelackey]

I'm living with a very long Solar eclipse right now.

When I had to get on my roofs and push 6 feet of snow off them the tonage of snow and ice has now blocked every window in this 1 story house so that only the slightest bit of light can get in, we have to keep the lights on all day just to see in here.

I can't wait for this stuff to melt so that the house plants can stop dying!!!

UUrrggghhh,.....I hate the North East in Winter!!!

So what are your thoughts on the south in summer?

[Red Horse]

I'm living with a very long Solar eclipse right now.

When I had to get on my roofs and push 6 feet of snow off them the tonage of snow and ice has now blocked every window in this 1 story house so that only the slightest bit of light can get in, we have to keep the lights on all day just to see in here.

I can't wait for this stuff to melt so that the house plants can stop dying!!!

UUrrggghhh,.....I hate the North East in Winter!!!

[Mr. SP]

Good view here on western Oregon. The moon was about a third coveres when it came up . Total eclipse about 19:00 hours and all over by 21:00 or so.

[reklein]

I went out and jumped up and down and waved my arms an' stuff, but I did'nt see my shadow up there.

[SilverSpike]

Nice pics of the lunar eclipse Jeff, thanks for sharing. I need to get the adapter for my scope for attaching my camera, also would like to get the one to attach to the PC too!

I set up the scope around 21:30 EST and we watched until around 22:45 EST as the moon started into and out of the various phases. Saturn was nice to see too!

Cheers,

Ryan

[bscroggi]

I hosted our round robin train group last night, with nine guys attending. We left the train room at least three times during the evening to go outside (8 degrees) to check on the progress. It was an awsome sight.

[steinjr]

 Het guys! Wasn't that interesting? Too bad you can do that in Model Railroading!

 Why can't you you have a lunar eclipse in model railroading ? 

 Low watt round spot light w/dimmer recessed into wall behind layout or into scenic divider, opening covered with picture of eclipsed moon copied onto thin paper, lights in the room otherwise turned off or significantly dimmed. For non-eclipsed moon, replace picture with picture of normal moon, turn up light.

 Haven't tried it, but it should work in principle. Just don't use a too strong lightbulb close to paper - real fires are no fun on a layout.

 Smile,
 Stein

 

[WSOR 3801]

I saw it.  Was going through the State Forest near Eagle, in the WSOR 3801.  Would have had to hang out of the window in -1 degree weather to get a shot of it.  Not gonna do it.

[Lillen]

TOOCLOUDYHERE!

Oh well. Next ones in 3 years...

 

Same thing here in Sweden.  What a shame!

 

Magnus

[Rotorranch]

Nice shot rolleiman!

Anyone get Saturn?

Rotor

[rolleiman]

Taken tonight, 2/20/2008 around 9:30pm EST

Taken in August much longer and slower lens..  

[Rotorranch]

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

Good eclipse info there.

Also, there is an American spy satellite about to crash that may be visible.

Space Weather News for Feb. 14, 2008
http://spaceweather.com/

Malfunctioning spy satellite USA 193 has been in the news lately
because of expectations that it will reenter Earth's atmosphere in March and
turn into a spectacular fireball. Reentry has not yet begun, but sky
watchers are already noticing the satellite as it zips over Europe and
the United States shining as brightly as a first or second magnitude
star. Typical photos are shown on today's edition of
http://spaceweather.com./

In fact, USA 193 may never reenter--at least not in one piece. Today,
the Pentagon announced it will attempt to blast the satellite with a
missile before its orbit decays. This would lessen the chances of
dangerous satellite debris and fuel reaching the ground while increasing the
population of space junk in low-Earth orbit.

Would you like to see USA 193 with your own eyes? It is about to make
a series of evening appearances over many US towns and cities,
beginning this weekend and continuing until the Pentagon intervenes. Flyby
timetables may be found at Heavens Above (http://heavens-above.com/). You
can also receive telephone and email alerts when the satellite is about
to fly over your backyard by subscribing to Spaceweather PHONE:
http://spaceweatherphone.com/ .

Rotor

[Rotorranch]

TOOCLOUDYHERE!

Oh well. Next ones in 3 years...

Actually, there will be another total eclipse visible this year in North America in August.

I'll post a link in a bit.

ed: My bad...it's a partial in Aug. '08.

Lunar Eclipses: 2007 - 2012
Date	Eclipse Type	Saros	Umbral Magnitude	Eclipse Duration	Geographic Region of Eclipse Visibility
2007 Mar 03	Total	123	1.238	03h42m 01h14m	Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia
2007 Aug 28	Total	128	1.481	03h33m 01h31m	e Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas
2008 Feb 21	Total	133	1.111	03h26m 00h51m	c Pacific, Americas, Europe, Africa
2008 Aug 16	Partial	138	0.813	03h09m	S. America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2009 Feb 09	Penumbral	143	-0.083	-	e Europe, Asia, Aus., Pacific, w N.A.
2009 Jul 07	Penumbral	110	-0.909	-	Aus., Pacific, Americas
2009 Aug 06	Penumbral	148	-0.661	-	Americas, Europe, Africa, w Asia
2009 Dec 31	Partial	115	0.082	01h02m	Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2010 Jun 26	Partial	120	0.542	02h44m	e Asia, Aus., Pacific, w Americas
2010 Dec 21	Total	125	1.262	03h29m 01h13m	e Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas, Europe
2011 Jun 15	Total	130	1.705	03h40m 01h41m	S.America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2011 Dec 10	Total	135	1.110	03h33m 00h52m	Europe, e Africa, Asia, Aus., Pacific, N.A.
2012 Jun 04	Partial	140	0.376	02h08m	Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas
2012 Nov 28	Penumbral	145	-0.184	-	Europe, e Africa, Asia, Aus., Pacific, N.A.

Geographic abreviations (used above): n = north, s = south, e = east, w = west, c = central

---

 

Rotor

[New Haven I-5]

 Het guys! Wasn't that interesting? Too bad you can do that in Model Railroading!

[larak]

Sheesh! It's not aliens. Everyone knows it's a dragon eating the moon. (Chinese legend I think)

Looks great here in upstate NY. Sorry that some of you have clouds in the way. Hey! I can hear the 10:30 freight cross the high bridge into Kingston so this is train related.

Karl 

[CPRail modeler]

"Hey look...the moon turned red..."

"...AUGHHH!!! ITS THE ALIENS!!! QUICK, SAVE THE BRASS!!!..."

From a MRRer that thinks anything sky-related was the doing of the aliens

I actually saw it. Was pretty cool. Too bad I don't have a chainsaw to cut down all those trees in the way!

[sleeper33]

 CLOUDY OVER HERE AS WELL

MISSED IT

Gav

the modelling thing is i'm building a kit

[loathar]

TOOCLOUDYHERE!

Oh well. Next ones in 3 years...

[chessiecat]

Sky is crystal clear here in Eastern West Virginia and what a show! The moon looks like the Chessie System Kitten from back in the seventys.

Jim

[Rotorranch]

Also, if you look at about 8-9 oclock from the moon, that bright star isn't a star, it's  Saturn. The rings are very visible with binoculars.

Rotor

[howmus]

Yep, just came up from the train room to take a look.  Full moon at almost a full eclipe.  Mostly clear sky outside.  Putting on a great show right now!

[concretelackey]

I looked outside and saw the sky was clear, threw on some shoes and a coat and headed out on the deck. I got real disappointed because something was blocking the moonlight!

[fiatfan]

I loaded up my camera and binoculars and headed out to a quiet gravel road outside of town to get some pics.  Of course there are clouds from horizon to horizon.  Oh, yeah, and the temperature is 1 degree Fahrenheit.

I was going to make it train related because I stopped next to some train tracks and was going to try to get thecrossbucks in the shot also.

 

Tom