Lunar Eclipse Tonight!

This year's only lunar eclipse happens tonight, and is visible throughout North America. It starts at 10:33 PST (that's 1:33 AM Tuesday for those on the East Coast), with total eclipse at 12:17 AM PST (3:17 AM EST) and ending at 2:01 AM PST (5:01 EST). Just a reminder - this is a lunar eclipse, which means that Earth will move directly between the moon and the sun; Earth's shadow will fall on the moon, darkening it and, during totality, giving the moon an eerie reddish hue.

Would you like to know more about eclipses? Say so in the comments section and I will be glad to devote a new post to the topic.

International Observe the Moon Night

Saturday August 18th is International Observe the Moon Night. With partnerships and sponsoring organizations all over the world, people everywhere will get the chance to observe the moon. For events near your area, click here. If you are in my area, come see me at Markham Park, where I'll be stationed with the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association. We, like other groups around the world, will be showing people the moon through telescopes and talking about the moon, as well as offering hands-on activities for people of all ages. Hope to see you there!

For information about the event, visit the Observe the Moon website.

Will Mars Appear As Big As The Moon?

In a word, no. Let me say that again: NO.

Every summer since 2003, an email has been circulating which claims that on the night of August 27th Mars will appear as big as the full moon. Of course, even the email itself admits, albeit in tiny print, that this will only be the case if Mars is view at 75-power magnification.

The truth is that in 2003, Mars and Earth were closer in their orbits than they had been in a long time, or will be in something like 60,000 years. That said, the difference between Mars' appearance in 2003 and, say, 2005 was extremely negligible.

The good new? You can see Mars tonight in the night sky! In fact, if you time it right and the skies cooperate, you'll see Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Mars all once in the western sky at dusk. They'll all be gone by about 10 PM, so don't dally! (Oh, but also don't worry if it's overcast tonight; these planets will be all be visible together for the next week or so.)

Note: Even though you won't see the moon in those spots, since we're past those dates, you'll still the planets lined up like this through the end of the month. No telescope needed, so I don't want to hear any excuses!

On A More Personal Note...

I know I haven't posted in a while. I have good reasons, I promise. OK, one really good reason - our family's single "son" system went binary! I'm pleased to report that Little Dudestronomer is now a big brother to Baby Girlstronomer. I am going to try to keep things coming on the blog when I can, but things get more complicated in a binary system - ask any planet with more than one sun!