once in a red moon...?

October 27, 2004 5:09 PM

Go outside and watch the eclipse [if it's night where you are]. Tonight's lunar eclipse -- visible on all continents except Australia -- marks the first time there has been an eclipse during a World Series game. If Fox is feeling generous, it could be the widest TV audience a total eclipse of a "Blood Moon" has ever had. If you're in the US, click on this time zone map to get a quicktime movie of what the moon will look like overhead in your state.
posted by jessamyn (26 comments total)

Okay, an eclipse of the (almost) full moon, the Red Sox shaking off nearly a century's worth of curse, the election heading towards us like a diseased train wreck.... what are the signs of the apocalypse again?

Oh, and thanks Jessamyn.
posted by jokeefe at 5:14 PM on October 27, 2004

Aaaaaaand it is raining here, so no eclipse for me. Dammit.
posted by bargle at 5:24 PM on October 27, 2004

Many Indians believe watching an eclipse directly is bad for you.
posted by riffola at 6:29 PM on October 27, 2004

Boy, many Indians must be real stupid.
posted by interrobang at 6:35 PM on October 27, 2004

Yeah, I think the stupidity quotient all over the planet is fairly constant.
posted by riffola at 6:41 PM on October 27, 2004

Sure is.

Unless they're talking about solar eclipses. Those are indeed dangerous to look at directly. I'm sure there are people everywhere who don't know that.

Unfortunately for me, it's--as always, wherever I am when there is something interesting going on in the sky--foggy.
posted by interrobang at 6:45 PM on October 27, 2004

Here's a good coupla links, sadly it's a cloudy night here in the UK, so no spectacular pix from us.
Science: Mechanics of Lunar Eclipses


from here.

Just imagine standing on the Moon during a Total Eclipse. The Earth itself would be a black disc, but our atmosphere would be glowing red. This is the ring of sunrises and sunsets that are happening around our world.

Many Americans believe that a 1st century jewish guy went to live in the sky when he died, and yet eat his body & blood on a weekly basis.

Wow, many Americans must be real stupid.

= Equally irrelevant comment.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:57 PM on October 27, 2004

an eclipse of the (almost) full moon

That in itself is hardly unusual; an eclipse of the moon can only occur when it's full. A full moon can be defined as "a moon you're seeing from the same direction as its source of illumination, i.e. the sun." The moon can't be eclipsed by the earth unless the earth is between it and the sun, and it therefore has to be full from the point of view of someone on earth. </pedant>
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:57 PM on October 27, 2004

The sky, amazingly enough here in Vancouver, is clear. My daughter and I have packed some snacks and a nice warm blanket and we're headed to the downtown beach two blocks from us (English Bay for the Vancouverites) to watch it. Now this is a very good thing.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:01 PM on October 27, 2004

Totally cloud-covered here.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:03 PM on October 27, 2004

moving cloud cover here in Atlanta. saw a peek of it about 5 minutes ago, 3/4 covered. not bloody yet...unlike my Mary.
posted by NationalKato at 7:11 PM on October 27, 2004

Australia here. I win.
posted by krisjohn at 7:15 PM on October 27, 2004

Looks great from here.
posted by stevengarrity at 7:16 PM on October 27, 2004

We're surrounded by rain here in Austin, but it's totally clear right now. The moon is like some sort of huge psycho killer in the sky!
posted by majcher at 7:31 PM on October 27, 2004

I can see it from my window.
posted by muckster at 7:34 PM on October 27, 2004

Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy, but it was nice to drive around in the country looking for a break in the sky. Thanks, jessamyn.
posted by melissa may at 7:36 PM on October 27, 2004

Just watched it with my kids here in Chicago. It was wonderfull.
posted by timsteil at 8:10 PM on October 27, 2004

Scoped it out passing into totality through a telescope in Seattle--very cool.
posted by y2karl at 8:22 PM on October 27, 2004

I saw it. I tell you I saw it with my own eyes. It was the moon, a full moon, and part of it was sort of blacked out, as if the light in the moon had been somewhat extinguished. And it gradually changed over time, like some sinister force was overtaking it. I just took a look and it is now a beautiful full moon.

I also saw Mt. St. Helens vent some steam today.

To top it off, I saw sea gulls and black birds hanging out together in the park.

I am in tune with nature. I am one with the Tao.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:29 PM on October 27, 2004

The sky in San Francisco was clear and the eclipse was stunning. I told my wife (who is unimpressed by all things astronomical) that someone forgot to pay the electric bill on the moon. She wasn't buying it.
posted by quadog at 12:12 AM on October 28, 2004

The view from an enclosed balcony in Berkeley, California:



Later, a closer look as the eclipse was ending:



I have tons of newfound respect for amateur astrophotographers shooting with ordinary gear now. (And I've acquired a new equipment lust for bigger lenses.) It takes good metering skill to handle such a wide contrast in light, and some serious long lens and tripod techniques to get anything resembling a sharp shot at these distances. Yeesh.
posted by DaShiv at 12:26 AM on October 28, 2004

SO sad to have missed this. It was totally overcast last night here.
posted by erratic frog at 1:20 AM on October 28, 2004

Interesting to watch as the clouds passed in front of the eclipse at totality revealing the moon. Not much red though.
posted by DBAPaul at 5:34 AM on October 28, 2004

Had a good view here in Colorado :)
posted by carter at 8:27 AM on October 28, 2004

My telescope and I were at a public astronomy session in northern New Jersey, sharing eyepiece views with all and sundry, talking about eclipse science and lore, and generally enjoying ourselves. We had beautiful weather, not too cold, until clouds rolled over the moon around 11 PM.

DaShiv, I like your shots very much. I tried a couple handheld eyepiece-projection shots with my telescope but I don't think they came out as well. If you want to go for it, a sharp shot can be obtained by either mounting the camera on a device that tracks the apparent motion of the moon across the sky (commonly a telescope with a motor drive) or by taking many short exposures and stacking them using software tools. Or better yet, both.

jokeefe, the other thing to watch out for is problems with influenza. We had some the last time the Red Sox won.
posted by Songdog at 9:13 AM on October 28, 2004

It was, IMO, boooooorrrring.

Here in BC, it was merely a darkish, reddish moon. It wasn't as great a thrill as, say, the comets a half-dozen or so years back, or the meteor showers two years back, or an eclipse of the sun.

We need more comets.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:23 AM on October 28, 2004