[AZ-Observing] Re: Tonight's Eclipse: Go North
- From: "Wayne (aka Mr. Galaxy)" <mrgalaxy@xxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, amastro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, taaaforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:27:31 GMT
Benson, AZ 85602
hm ph: 520-586-2244 Well, I got up around 5:15am and I'm in the process of
watching the lunar eclipse right now (Saturday). We've been fortunate so far in
that there is a wall of cirrus to the south of us and some to the far north,
but where I'm at it's clear east and west. The moon showed an umbral notch at
about 5:40am local AZ time and was quite obvious by 6am. There was some hint of
orange in the shadowed area of the moon around 6:10am. Along with the moon,
nearly on the meridian is Mars in Leo and further to the east is Saturn in
Virgo making a nearly equal pairing with Spica - a neat sight. I'm checking
progress about every 15 minutes until it gets closer to totality by which time
either the hills around me will hide the moon, the Tucson glow will overwhelm
it, or sunrise will interfere. Dawn light is definitely starting to make its
presence felt at 6:25am, and the umbral shadow on the moon is about half way
across the disk showing a muted dark orange coloration. It won't be a contrasty
showing for the totality of this eclipse, if we can see it at all from AZ. Some
cirrus encroaching from the south and east, but generally avoiding the area
where the moon is. I ventured out again at about 6:40am and the shadow is now
about 3/4 of the way across the lunar face. There is something neat about being
able to see an eclipsed moon as you walk out your back door. Dark orangish with
a thin crescent, appears backwards of the way you ordinarily would see it. I
just saw maybe an Iridium Flare near Castor and Pollux as I was looking at the
eclipse. The satellite moved from west to east and continued to be visible
until a little past overhead then it abruptly disappeared. The dawn light is
definitely getting brighter, but since the moon is in the earth's shadow, the
girdle of Venus, it is not being bothered by the glow too much, yet. I went
outside one last time to witness the last vestiges of the waning crescent of
the eclipsed moon as the race to the western horizon continued. I wasn't quite
sure if I would see totality begin before the moon was hidden by my (fairly
high) local horizon. I finally had to get out a pair of binoculars to see the
final phase of the event. The planets Mars and Saturn had long ago disappeared
in the dawn light. The moon was less than its diameter about the horizon when I
could no longer pick up the razor thin edge of the eclipsed moon. That was at
about 7am, maybe just short of totality; the eclipsed section of the moon was
no longer visible, either with naked eye or through the binoculars so no color
was seen on the lunar surface, the only disappointment of the night. The red
glow of the clouds in the east being lit up by the sunrise added a nice touch
to the whole event. The temperature hovered around 37 degrees F and we had a
slight breeze which died down as sunrise progressed, not bad for a jaunt around
my ten acres, and I did have to go the extremes of the property to see the
western horizon properly, which is where my worst skyglow from Tucson is. I see
a couple lunar eclipse reports coming in as I am concluding my report. I hope
everyone was able to enjoy this one, especially those further west. Happy
holidays to everyone.
Clear skies,
Wayne (aka Mr. Galaxy)
---------- Original Message ----------
From: Tim Jones <tjmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Tonight's Eclipse: Go North
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 19:14:04 -0700
Unfortunately, Skippy Sky agrees. No eclipse for any of us South of Cordes
Junction area.
Tim
On Dec 9, 2011, at 6:42 PM, Tom Polakis wrote:
> The Clear Sky Chart transparency map has matched the cirrus entering southern
> Arizona very well today. The forecast model shows the clouds creeping
> northward through the night. It looks like it will be clear north of a line
> through Phoenix. Southern Arizona should be under pretty thick cirrus, but
> it might require a drive only to Black Canyon City or so to see the sunrise
> eclipse.
>
> Tom
> --
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