web
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