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I see a pattern here welcome stargazers

Undine Rigas astronomer from the
Cincinnati Observatory

and I'm James all very director the key
cassava pop planetarium in Gainesville

Florida

next week we get to experience the
second total lunar eclipse at the 2014

2015 te trade

you might be asking yourself what's a
tetrapod well

they're very rare in this week's episode
will tell you why

well also give you the lowdown on the
October 8th lunar eclipse

let's show you here's how eclipses work

celestial bodies cast to shadows a
darker

inner shadow called the Umbra and a
lighter outer shadow called the penumbra

your location with respect to the
shadows will determine the kind of

Eclipse you can see

the geometry of the lunar eclipse is
quite simple

first the moon must be in the four-phase
putting

earth between the Sun and Moon when
Earth Moon and Sun

align perfectly we get a clips because
the moon's orbit is tilted by about 5

degrees with respect to the Earth's
orbit around the Sun

the earth Moon and Sun rarely align
however

when they do the moon passes through the
earth's shadow says

earth is so much larger than the moon
our entire shadow can cover the moon

how high above or below the Earth's
shadow the moon passes

determines the type a lunar eclipse we
can see if the moon only passes through

the earth's penumbra

we have what's called a penumbral lunar
eclipse this causes only a slight

dimming up the moon is

almost a noticeable to the average moon
watcher if only part of the moon passes

through the

Earth's ombra the darker inner shadow we
have what's called

a partial lunar eclipse thus causes a
noticeable darkening

obey portion on the moon surface however

if the moon passes completely into the
earth number we have a total

lunar eclipse now few members six months
ago

we had a total lunar eclipse on income
tax day

April 15 well it may surprise you to
know

that there is an almost six months
pattern for clips is

we call these eclipse seasons the moon's
orbit around the Earth is tilted

appearing almost like a dinner plate
that is tilted with respect to a dinner

table

the points of intersection between the
moon's orbit in the plane of the Earth's

orbit are called nodes

if the New Moon and full moon occur when
the moon is that one of these nodes

we get an eclipse as the Earth orbits
the Sun

it carries them in with it these points
of intersection allow the Sun

moon and earth to align it almost six
month intervals so for example

in April 2014 the New Moon and full moon
were aligned with the Sun and her

and we experienced a total lunar eclipse
and two weeks later

there was a solar eclipse if we advance
time six months to October

the New Moon full moon again the line
with the sign in earth

and on October 8 we will see another
total lunar eclipse

and two weeks after that on October 23rd
there'll be a partial solar eclipse

although the six-month pattern eclipses
happens rather frequently

it's rare that you get four total lunar
eclipse is in Iraq

we call this a tetra at a tetrad is in
effect caused by the shape of the

Earth's orbit around the Sun

combined with the timing the clip
seasons and the sequence a tech trends

varies over time

for example between 1582 in 1908

there were no te tracked but there are
17 tetrapod between 1909 and 2156

the previous to trad occurred in 2003 24

and the next to tread water current ill

okay we've got our sky set up for
Wednesday morning October 8th 2014

the mall enter the PIN number at 4:15
a.m.

Eastern Daylight Time but you won't
notice anything exciting happen until

almost 5:15 a.m. when the moon begins to
enter the number

to tally begins at 6:25 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time

so if you happen to live on the east
coast the United States

the moon will be setting just as
totality begins

so you only get to see the beginning of
this eclipse

however if you live near the west coast
you'll get to see the whole thing

but don't worry stargazers since this is
a test trad you get two more

opportunities to see a total lunar
eclipse

we'll have another on April 4th 2015 and
the last thing will happen on September

2050 all the lunar eclipses after that
will be either partial

or penumbral you have to wait until 20
18 for the next total lunar eclipse

so make sure you set your alarm clocks
and remember to

keep looking up me