Red Moon

[tharpdevenport]

Did you miss it last night? Solstice full moon. Next one, news says, isn't until 2094, so basically you're fucked if you mssed it. Oh wait, you aren't -- looky, looky, looky what I did for ya:

Any pictures of your own?

 

[RoJoHen]

In 2094, assuming I don't die prematurely and assuming that medical science continues to improve, I plan to be a healthy 109 years old. Not totally unreasonable.

 

[Trekker4747]

Did you miss it last night? Solstice full moon. Next one, news says, isn't until 2094, so basically you're fucked if you mssed it. Oh wait, you aren't -- looky, looky, looky what I did for ya:

Any pictures of your own?

Overcast here so I couldn't see it.

 

[Guitarded]

Wasn't so special because it was a full moon, really, but because it was a total lunar eclipse. They just happened to occur at the same time.

 

[RoJoHen]

They just happened to occur at the same time.

Well, yeah. That's kind of the point.

 

[RobertVA]

I've seen several lunar eclipses. Each and every one was full before and after the eclipse. Think about it. It has to be a full moon!

It was the eclipse so close to the winter solstice that was unusual.

Unfortunately there were scattered clouds here in SE Virginia and, while I could see the portion in full daylight, a cloud was sufficiently dense to make it look hazy and prevented any view of the portion illuminated by light refracted through Earth's atmosphere.

Impressive as lunar eclipses are, the total solar eclipse I saw about 36 years ago was really impressive! About six minutes of night like darkness in the middle of the afternoon! Looking directly at a solar eclipse during the partial portion risks retinal damage (the lower light levels don't force you to look away before damage takes place), but it's safe to look while it's total. The gases and flares surrounding the sun are clearly visible around the dark black disk of the moon.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've seen several lunar eclipses. Each and every one was full before and after the eclipse. Think about it. It has to be a full moon!

It was the eclipse so close to the winter solstice that was unusual.

Indeed. All lunar eclipses are full moons. The only thing special about this one was that it happened to occur on the solstice.

 

[Guitarded]

That makes more sense. I know literally nothing about astronomy, so I thought it was just the fact that a "lunar eclipse" occurred, rather than the timing of an eclipse/solstice.

 

[RoJoHen]

Nah, lunar eclipses happen fairly often. There will be another total eclipse in June and December of next year and then two more in 2014.

 

[KimMH]

Did you miss it last night? Solstice full moon. Next one, news says, isn't until 2094, so basically you're fucked if you mssed it. Oh wait, you aren't -- looky, looky, looky what I did for ya:

QUOTE]

Thanks! It was overcast here; so no go. I will be a.) dead or b.) ancient in 2094 so the gesture is quite lovely.

My dad likes to take pix with his telescope and was quite irritated by the cloudcover.

 

[Guitarded]

Luckily, we had a perfect view. I got tired of standing outside in the cold, though, so I retreated to my computer just before it was in full effect.