Total Lunar Eclipse: Thursday 5/15/2003; 9:00 PM EST

Discover magazine, National Geographic ^ | 5/13/2003 | Self

[Robert A Cook PE]

A total lunar eclipse should be brilliantly visible against the full moon on early Thursday evening, May 15th. Since most of the storms seem to have blown past, let's hope the skies will be clear and not covered up.

Homeschoolers should take advantage of this (early evening) eclipse time to get some dramatic "free science homework credit" by spending a few minutes outside watching the moom suddenly "almost vanish" in an orange glow of reflected earthlight.

[NormsRevenge]

Tue May 13, 9:54 AM ET

This Reuters graphic shows where the upcoming lunar eclipse, which occurs on May 15, 2003, will be visible. (Reuters Graphic)

[Robert A Cook PE]

According to this graphic, then it should be starting right now.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Clear now here in the Southeast, though the shadow isn't very obvious yet.

[ngc6656]

According to this graphic, then it should be starting right now.

Observers should be able to see a subtle darkening on the western limb of the moon by 9:30 p.m., EDT. provided the sky is clear. At my location it is clear to the west, overcast to the southeast. Cheez.

[ngc6656]

Whoops, I goofed. The moon is moving eastwardly into Earth's shadow, so the subtle darkening will first appear on the moon's eastern limb.

[who knows what evil?]

Thunderstorms in east Tennessee around seven this evening have moved on, and the sky is crystal clear. An unusually bright full moon (moisture in the air, I'm sure) has risen...looking forward to the eclipse getting underway in the next half hour. (I have a crop of VERY LARGE broccoli coming to harvest over the next two weeks...they really look eerie under the light of the moon on this particular evening.) If you are in the southern Appalachians this evening, and the skies have cleared, you are in for an astronomical TREAT!

[NormsRevenge]

an astronomical treat tonight.. and a gastronomical treat for you in 2 weeks .. ;-)

[Revolting cat!]

No thanks, I'll pass - don't wanna risk going permanently blind again staring at the raw moonbeams!

[don-o]

East Tennessee got a clear sky.

And Little House on Unaka got a clear view.

Yahoo!

[who knows what evil?]

Eclipse underway in east Tennessee...a 'chunk' has vanished from the bottom of the lunar disc. You couldn't ask for a nicer night to view the eclipse.

[ozaukeemom]

Same in Wisconsin!

[plsvn]

Whoops, I goofed. The moon is moving eastwardly into Earth's shadow, so the subtle darkening will first appear on the moon's eastern limb.

To make you feel better, I can never remember which limb is which. If you were standing, say, in the crater Copernicus on the moon and looking towards the direction of the rising sun (on the moon), you would think that the right limb (as we look at it from the earth) would be the eastern limb. But it's not according to convention. I just checked in Menzel's Field Guide, and indeed the left limb of the moon (as we look at it from the Northern Hemisphere) is the "eastern" limb, the limb that first goes into the earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse, as it is right now out my window (well, OK, southeastern limb for this particular eclipse).

[ngc6656]

I just checked in Menzel's Field Guide, and indeed the left limb of the moon (as we look at it from the Northern Hemisphere) is the "eastern" limb, the limb that first goes into the earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse

Thanks for the clarification, plsvn.

The sky cleared at my location. Life is good.

[Davea]

Waiting for the sun to set in the Bay Area Ca. Clear skies. Can't wait.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Clear here (west of Atlanta) until mid-eclipse .... now low clouds and fog rolling in.

Hope the rest of you guys get bettr luck.

[HighWheeler]

California is only getting a partial eclipse. Here is the chart showing the opportunity. Clouds not included.

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=lunar_eclipse_where_030515_02.gif

[HighWheeler]

This is as good a thread as any for this:

Proof that Moon Landing was a Hoax (with sound!)

[ngc6656]

Waiting for the sun to set in the Bay Area Ca. Clear skies. Can't wait.

Finding an eclipsed moon in gathering twilight can be fun and it can be frustrating.

Anyone ready to make a call on the color of this eclipse? I see none of the moderate redness evident during some eclipses (caused by sunlight passing through dust in Earth's atmosphere before it reaches the moon). This one could be a "cream and copper eclipse."

[Dengar01]

I was outside with my neighbors and just when it was totally eclipsed it got cloudy, typical.

[katnip]

Sniff.. it's so cloudy here on L.I. that I couldn't even find the moon.