On Tuesday, Aug. 28th, the full Moon will enter Earth's shadow for a 90-minute total eclipse. People on the Pacific side of Earth will have the best view as the Moon turns a dreamy shade of
sunset red.
Favored areas include the Americas (especially western North
America), Hawaii, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, east Asia and Antarctica.
The show begins Tuesday morning around 2 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (0900-UT).
Although the dominant color of a lunar eclipse is red, sometimes another hue appears--turquoise. Earth's shadow has a turquoise-colored fringe caused by our planet's ozone layer, and this can be seen for a few beautiful moments at the onset of totality.
Today's edition of spaceweather.com shows you what the turquoise fringe looks like and explains how to catch it.
Also, amateur astronomers are encouraged to assist NASA during the eclipse by scanning the darkened Moon for explosions caused by Helion meteoroid impacts. Typical flashes reach 6th magnitude--easy targets for mid-sized backyard telescopes equipped with digital video cameras. The eclipse is a great time to look for these "lunar meteors."
Observing tips and more information are available at http://spaceweather.com.
Full coverage of the eclipse, including maps, animations, timetables and links to live webcasts, begins now on http://spaceweather.com .
