Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lunar Eclipse (Video)

Here in North America, the lunar eclipse wasn't visible.

People on other continents were able to enjoy the sight.

The longest lunar eclipse in more than a decade turned the moon blood red on Thursday, giving stargazers around the world a rare visual treat.

The first eclipse of the year -- when the Earth casts its shadow over the Moon -- was seen in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Often the moon turns brown but this time it became a reddish, coppery-colour, tinged by light from the Sun.

The terrestrial shadow started to fall at 1724 GMT and lifted around 2300 GMT, although "totality" -- when the lunar face is completely covered -- lasted 100 minutes -- the longest since July 2000.

While keen astronomers in parts of Australia had to contend with dense cloud cover and rain, others had a clearer view of the spectacle.

Around 130 people watched at the Sydney Observatory, with one woman dressed as a vampire.

"There was (also) a child dressed very elegantly as if she was from another century, and a little boy dressed up as a red superhuman," Sydney Observatory manager Toner Stevenson told reporters.

Professor Fred Watson, astronomer-in-charge at the Australian Astronomical Observatory, said the best view would have been from the moon itself.

"If you could watch the phenomena, you would see the earth moving across the sun and it creating a brilliant red rim around the earth," he said.

Time-lapse video of the lunar eclipse, from Breitbart:



The eclipse viewed from spots around the world, video from the Associated Press:



Related video:

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