Are you gearing up for "the end of the world", the one that will be heralded with the arrival of the rare "Blood Moon"? Well, leaving aside all the Roland Emmerich-ish movie plots behind, this is really going to be once in a blue moon natural phenomenon that nobody should miss out.
If you are living in the US, wondering how to get the best view of this rare natural event, your best bet should be the observatory in Charlestown, which is getting ready for a large crowd to witness the rare double feature.
On the determined date, the sky above Rhode Island will host a stunning display of rare astrological convergence as a full supermoon undergoes a total eclipse.
The eclipse process begins Sunday night at around 8:10 p.m., but apparently, the time to really check the sky is at 9:07 pm (EST), when the partial phase of the eclipse starts. According to reports, the moon, as it moves into the earth's shadow, will darken and change colour.
Dave Huestis of the nonprofit Skyscapers organization, which owns the Seagrave Memorial Observatory in North Scituate, explains: "When the Moon first encounters the umbral shadow at 9:07 p.m., the partial phase of the eclipse begins. For one hour and four minutes the Moon will move deeper and deeper into the shadow, generally from left to right."
"Then at 10:11 p.m. the Moon will be completely immersed in the Earth's umbral shadow and totality begins. Totality will last until 11:23 p.m. for a total duration of one hour and twelve minutes. Will the Moon completely disappear from the sky during totality? We'll know by mid-totality at around 10:47 p.m."
"The answer to that question all depends upon how much dust is in the Earth's atmosphere at eclipse time. Usually the lunar landscape looks ashen during totality with subtle copper, orange or red tones scattered about. Sometimes the Moon will be bathed in red light," it adds.
"That's because of sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere and shining on the lunar surface. Think about this event from the Moon's perspective. The Earth is eclipsing (passing in front of) the Sun, and sunlight is refracting though our atmosphere and shining onto the lunar surface."
Reports have stated that the Frosty Dew Observatory & Sky Theatre at Ninigret Park will be setting up telescopes outside its campus for anyone who wants to have a better look at the eclipse. The full eclipse will begin at 10:11 p.m. Sunday and should last more than an hour.
Stay tuned for more updates!
[Source: New Haven Register, Patch]
