Saturday, December 10, 2011
MOON IN THE PENUMBRAL PHASE IN NAGPUR
Akshay Deoraswww.scribd.com/akshaydeoras
Severe Earth & Space Weather Forecaster,Astrophysics article writer.
Web-
www.akshaydeoras.blogspot.com
www.metdweather.blogspot.com
AKG SETUP FOR THE LUNAR ECLIPSE
Akshay Deoras
Severe Earth & Space Weather Forecaster,Astrophysics article writer.
Web-
www.akshaydeoras.blogspot.com
www.metdweather.blogspot.comwww.scribd.com/akshaydeoras
Total Lunar Eclipse today!
By Akshay Deoras
The MOST AWAITED TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE IS TODAY
As known by all, the second total lunar eclipse will start today with the penumbral phase at around 1133UT.
AKG Networks will BE PASTING REAL TIME PHOTOS ON OUR BLOGS-
www.akshaydeoras.blogspot.com
www.metdweather.blogspot.com
www.rajesh26.blogspot.com
twitter.com/lunarakg
facebook.com/deorasakshay
AND WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE A TIE UP WITH VAGARIES OF WEATHER -
www.rajesh26.blogspot.com WHERE THREE IMPORTANT PHOTOS WILL BE PASTED AT 1330UT,1430UT AND 1530UT. THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE LUNAR ECLIPSE ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR IT ON AKG NETWORKS BY FOLLOWING REAL TIME TWEETS ON twitter.com/lunarakg
THE LIVE COVERAGE WILL BEGIN TODAY AT 1130UT ON TWITTER AND BLOG
OTHER LIVE STREAMERS
1] Hong Kong Observatory- SEE HERE ( Coverage begins at 0845PM LT)
2] Siliguri,India SEE HERE ( Coverage begins 1230UT)
3] Star Gazers SEE HERE
4] astronomylive.com
FOR AKG NETWORKS PHOTO,MEDIA PERSONS MUST CONTACT AT
akshaydeoras@hotmail.com
The MOST AWAITED TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE IS TODAY
As known by all, the second total lunar eclipse will start today with the penumbral phase at around 1133UT.
AKG Networks will BE PASTING REAL TIME PHOTOS ON OUR BLOGS-
www.akshaydeoras.blogspot.com
www.metdweather.blogspot.com
www.rajesh26.blogspot.com
twitter.com/lunarakg
facebook.com/deorasakshay
AND WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE A TIE UP WITH VAGARIES OF WEATHER -
www.rajesh26.blogspot.com WHERE THREE IMPORTANT PHOTOS WILL BE PASTED AT 1330UT,1430UT AND 1530UT. THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE LUNAR ECLIPSE ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR IT ON AKG NETWORKS BY FOLLOWING REAL TIME TWEETS ON twitter.com/lunarakg
THE LIVE COVERAGE WILL BEGIN TODAY AT 1130UT ON TWITTER AND BLOG
OTHER LIVE STREAMERS
1] Hong Kong Observatory- SEE HERE ( Coverage begins at 0845PM LT)
2] Siliguri,India SEE HERE ( Coverage begins 1230UT)
3] Star Gazers SEE HERE
4] astronomylive.com
FOR AKG NETWORKS PHOTO,MEDIA PERSONS MUST CONTACT AT
akshaydeoras@hotmail.com
Thursday, December 8, 2011
More FAQ about Lunar Eclipse
By Akshay Deoras
Q. For the regions shown ( Eclipse at Moon rise) in the above figure what will happen?
A. People are confused about Eclipse and Moonrise of this Saturday's. Well, for the regions in the Eclipse at Moonrise the exact meaning is that the lunar eclipse ( already in progress) will be seen after the moon rises. Lets think of a simple example.
Consider a train ( moon) travelling from station A( Regions where all eclipse will be visible) to station B ( regions of Eclipse at Moonrise). An observer will say that the eclipse has begun when he sees the train at either of the station. That is observer at station A will see the train first and shortly the eclipse will begin ( Passengers board the train) but for the observer at B station, the train ( Moon) and passengers ( Eclipse) isn't visible! Lets think that the train arrives at a certain time. Thus ONLY AFTER THIS TIME( Moonrise) the person will see the train ( moon) and passengers ( eclipse) and such will be the situation.
For much of India, the lunar eclipse Penumbral phase w'd have begun before but will be visible only after the moon arrives.
Q. Eclipse starts at 0615PM IST in India.What does it mean when you say eclipse begins at moonrise?
A.The time 0615PM IST is the time when the Partal Lunar Eclipse will begin.Infact the penumbral eclipse starts much before the moon rise.
Q. What can one see through unaided,untrained eyes during the penumbral eclipse phase?
A.The penumbral eclipse actually takes place when the moon enters the penumbra ( Outer light shadow of the earth.) For untrained,unaided eye not much change will be there. One will keep seeing the moon without any change in its geometry however the moon shall dim a bit ( if observed properly).
Q. Terminologies Partial,Umbra,Penumbra,Totality are confusing.How can it be made simple?
A. Its very easy!
The Earth's shadow is of the circular form. Consider the below Dart-Board
The outer circle where numbers are written is the Penumbra of earth's shadow ( Lighter shadow region)
The inner circle is the Umbra of earth's shadow ( Darker region).
The Moon in the numbered circular region is said to be in Penumbral Eclipse.
But when the moon enters inside and moves in the inner circular region ( COMPLETELY) then its said to be in Totality..
A Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur when some part of the moon enters the inner circular region but most of the moon is outside it.
Q. How will the moon look at what time on 10th Dec 2011?
A.There is a wonderful link on it. See here
Q. How long will the Lunar Eclipse of 10th Dec 2011 last?
The totality phase shall last till around 51mins i.e one will be able to observe the darker shade of Moon with the Brick Red or copper red shade.
The rest eclipse ( Penumbral to Penumbral) will last close to 6 hours!
A. People are confused about Eclipse and Moonrise of this Saturday's. Well, for the regions in the Eclipse at Moonrise the exact meaning is that the lunar eclipse ( already in progress) will be seen after the moon rises. Lets think of a simple example.
Consider a train ( moon) travelling from station A( Regions where all eclipse will be visible) to station B ( regions of Eclipse at Moonrise). An observer will say that the eclipse has begun when he sees the train at either of the station. That is observer at station A will see the train first and shortly the eclipse will begin ( Passengers board the train) but for the observer at B station, the train ( Moon) and passengers ( Eclipse) isn't visible! Lets think that the train arrives at a certain time. Thus ONLY AFTER THIS TIME( Moonrise) the person will see the train ( moon) and passengers ( eclipse) and such will be the situation.
For much of India, the lunar eclipse Penumbral phase w'd have begun before but will be visible only after the moon arrives.
Q. Eclipse starts at 0615PM IST in India.What does it mean when you say eclipse begins at moonrise?
A.The time 0615PM IST is the time when the Partal Lunar Eclipse will begin.Infact the penumbral eclipse starts much before the moon rise.
Q. What can one see through unaided,untrained eyes during the penumbral eclipse phase?
A.The penumbral eclipse actually takes place when the moon enters the penumbra ( Outer light shadow of the earth.) For untrained,unaided eye not much change will be there. One will keep seeing the moon without any change in its geometry however the moon shall dim a bit ( if observed properly).
Q. Terminologies Partial,Umbra,Penumbra,Totality are confusing.How can it be made simple?
A. Its very easy!
The Earth's shadow is of the circular form. Consider the below Dart-Board
The outer circle where numbers are written is the Penumbra of earth's shadow ( Lighter shadow region)
The inner circle is the Umbra of earth's shadow ( Darker region).
The Moon in the numbered circular region is said to be in Penumbral Eclipse.
But when the moon enters inside and moves in the inner circular region ( COMPLETELY) then its said to be in Totality..
A Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur when some part of the moon enters the inner circular region but most of the moon is outside it.
Q. How will the moon look at what time on 10th Dec 2011?
A.There is a wonderful link on it. See here
Q. How long will the Lunar Eclipse of 10th Dec 2011 last?
The totality phase shall last till around 51mins i.e one will be able to observe the darker shade of Moon with the Brick Red or copper red shade.
The rest eclipse ( Penumbral to Penumbral) will last close to 6 hours!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Expected weather forecast for Lunar Eclipse 10th Dec 2011
METD WEATHER
Akshay Deoras
Severe Weather Forecaster
Our parent blog,AKG is celebrating the Lunar Week which is a week prior to the upcoming Grand event of Total Lunar Eclipse of 10th Dec 2011 i.e on coming Saturday
Everyone knows that this is the second and the final total lunar eclipse of this year with the first one already happened on 15th June where due to the pre-monsoon phase the weather didn't permit a good view at majority areas of India. However as the winter is now in full swing, its an obvious fact that with no active low pressure systems to influence, much of India is going to get a CLEAR view of the event.
Below is a list of 32 cities of India for which the weather forecast is calculated.
It appears that around 88% of the nation will get good weather for the eclipse
Akshay Deoras
---------------
Expected weather forecast of evening 10th Dec 2011 @ 5PM-11PM
Cloud Cover( In percent) Terminology
0 CLEAR
1-20 LIGHT
21-50 MODERATE
51-75 HEAVY
76-100 OVERCAST
Alphabetical order-
1 ] Agartala - Cloud Cover shall be MODERATE but occasional views of Eclipse will be possible.
2] Agra- CLEAR WEATHER EXPECTED WITH NO CLOUD COVER
3] Ahmedabad- CLEAR
4] Aizawl- CLEAR
5] Allahabad- CLEAR
6] AMBALA - CLEAR
7] AMRITSAR- CLEAR
8] Bangalore- MODERATE ( Weather will depend on day time heat and chances of thunderstorms)
9] Bhopal - LIGHT
10] Bhubaneshwar - LIGHT
11] Chandigarh - LIGHT to CLEAR
12] Chennai - MODERATE ( HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT MAY LEAD TO CLOUD COVER)
13] New Delhi- CLEAR
14] Gandhinagar- CLEAR
15] Gangtok - HEAVY CLOUD COVER EXPECTED
16] Guwahati - LIGHT
17] Jammu - CLEAR
18] KARNAL- CLEAR
19] Kolkata- CLEAR
20] LEH- CLEAR TO LIGHT CLOUD
21] LUCKNOW- CLEAR
22] LUDHIANA- CLEAR
23] MUMBAI- CLEAR
24] NAGPUR- CLEAR
25] PATNA- LIGHT
26] RAJKOT- CLEAR
27] SRINAGAR- CLEAR
28] SURAT- CLEAR
29] TRIVANDRUM- LIGHT
30] Vishakhapatanam- LIGHT
31] PUNE- CLEAR
32] HYDERABAD- CLEAR
Thus four areas and nearby i.e Agartala and some SEVEN SISTER STATES AREA,Bangalore,Chennai and Gangtok and nearby areas have some possible cloud cover influence. The forecast is preliminary and is subjected to change as per the situation
In all the other areas will get good weather for eclipse .
METD WEATHER
Akshay Deoraswww.scribd.com/akshaydeoras
Severe Earth & Space Weather Forecaster,Astrophysics article writer.
Web-
www.akshaydeoras.blogspot.com
www.metdweather.blogspot.com
Friday, December 2, 2011
"Science of Lunar Eclipse through FAQ & Celestial Beauty of Saturday"
A Week prior to the 10th Dec 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse, AKG is beginning the Lunar Week from Sat ( 03rd Dec) to 10th Dec 2011.
The Lunar Week's inaugural article is here.I am proud to present this article titled as "Science of Lunar Eclipse through FAQ & Celestial Beauty of Saturday"
The article focuses on explaining the science of Lunar Eclipse through Frequently Asked Questions I have encountered with written in a simple language to enable the readers to understand it. Also given below are the datas from Eclipse NASA giving insight about the event on 10th Dec 2011 when a Total Lunar Eclipse will be visible.
The Eclipse is important for me and my hometown as the next eclipse ( Total Lunar) will be visible nearly after 6 years !!!
So sit back and enjoy and wish you a Happy Lunar Week.
AND!!
FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE ECLIPSE: MARK THE DATE --- Sat,10th Dec 2011
Akshay Deoras
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"Science of Lunar Eclipse through FAQ & Celestial Beauty of Saturday"
By Akshay Deoras
The coming Saturday,10th Dec is going to be a wonderful evening for all the astro lovers! There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse on the evening of Saturday which will be the second one of the year ( After 15th June 2011) when the first total lunar eclipse was seen.
However, the weather didn't allow any view of the eclipse from Nagpur.
The Eclipse is going to be visible completely in East Asia,Australia,New Zealand.In India the moon will rise before the beginning of penumbral eclipse in North East states,East central region,Eastern Jammu and Kashmir. For central India including Nagpur,and the remaining regions the moon will rise in the penumbral eclipse. Penumbral Eclipse happens when the moon enters the penumbra or outer faint shadow of the Earth. As a result the TOTALITY PHASE will be seen by these areas.
However for much of Africa,Europe the eclipse last stages will be seen and so it will just be restricted to Partial Lunar Eclipse for them. The Eclipse will not be visible in extreme west africa,South America and Antarctica prominently.
The Details for India
I must say that cities in the entire Seven sister states,West Bengal,Sikkim,Bihar,Jharkhand and some parts of Chattisgarh,Extreme eastern J&K will have the moon rise before the P1 stage. So they can experience the entire phenomena.
For Kolkata moon will rise on 10th Dec around 1637hrs (1107UT).
The general timings are -
P1 = 11:33:32 UT ….. (0503PM IST)….. Moon enters the penumbra
U1 = 12:45:42 UT …. (0615PM IST)….. Moon enters the umbra
U2 = 14:06:16 UT ….. (0736PM IST) … TOTAL ECLIPSE BEGINS
GREATEST ECLIPSE - 1432UT ( 0802PM IST)
U3 = 14:57:24 UT …. (0827PM IST)
U4 = 16:17:58 UT….. (0948PM IST) … MOON LEAVES UMBRA
P4 = 17:30:00 UT …. (11PM IST) … ECLIPSE ENDS
WHAT WILL THE PEOPLE SEE (INCLUDING NAGPUR) ?
Nagpur Special*
For Nagpur, the moon rise on 10th is at 1723hrs IST (1153hrs UT)
Moon enters the Umbra - 0615PM IST
Total Eclipse Begins - 0736PM IST
MAXIMUM - 0802PM IST
Total Eclipse Ends- 0827PM IST
Partial Eclipse ends - 0948PM IST
Penumbral Eclipse ends- 11PM IST
THE NEXT TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE TO BE VISIBLE FROM NAGPUR WILL BE ON 31ST JAN 2018
Apparent View of the Moon and Earth's shadow in Real time at 0802PM IST
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MOON'S APPEARANCE WILL BE SIMILAR AS SHOWN IN THE ABOVE FIGURE
At 1133UT, the moon's appearance will start fading slightly which is often not noticed by naked eyes. This happens as less dark shadow of Earth falls on the Moon. As the Moon starts progressing towards the Umbra Region, from 1406UT, the Totality will start and the Moon's surface will begin to cut off due to the earth and moon will start getting darker but there will be appearance of Red shades will increase and at 1432UT the moon will be BRICK RED. The reverse process will again follow as the moon leaves umbra completely at 1618UT.
The Eclipse will be over at 1730UT!
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The Myth of Eclipses
The phenomena of eclipse wasn't as enjoyable thousands of years ago as it is today especially to see the copper red moon of totality.
For those who don't know the science of the eclipse, lets learn it through Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)Chinese people had mentioned first about Solar Eclipse long way back around 2134BC. People of the ancient times used to fear from the eclipse as they thought it was a curse. Even the famous war between Lydians and Medes ended after 5 years at once as the day turned dark due to Solar Eclipse- A phenomena which they didn't understand.
Q.Ingredients for the recipe of Total Lunar Eclipse?
A. Sun,Earth,Moon
Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Earth's shadow falls on the moon.When I am standing in front of a tube light my shadow falls behind ( Say there is a screen). This screen is the moon and I am the earth for consideration
Q.How is the moon's orbit around the Earth?A.The orbit of the moon around the Earth is an ellipse ( curve obtained when you join letter "u" from top with inverted "u"). Moon's orbit around the earth makes an angle of 5 Degree 14 mins with the ecliptic ( Ecliptic plane is the plane in which Earth orbit's the Sun)Its like when you consider a clock let the minute hand pointing from 9 to 3 be ecliptic. So the second's hand pointing from 10-4 and 8-2 is the moon's orbit around the earth but in the real three dimension of space.
Thus the second's hand crosses the plane two times.At 9'o clock and 3'o clock.The same is the concept of Moon.
Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic two times during one orbit referred as nodes( Explained below)Thus for earth's shadow to be casted on moon or moon blocking the solar disc, the moon must be in a common plane with earth and sun i.e have co-planar orbits.
Q. When Moon crosses the ecliptic twice a month, then why there isn't eclipse twice a month?
A. Consider the below figure
COURTESY- DWIGHT ENNIS
The Nodal axis is a line joining the two nodes. That is for eclipse moon must be at one node which it does twice in its orbit BUT the sun ALSO must be at the other far end of the stick ( Nodal axis). It is supposed to happen every 6 months.
Q. Why doesn't the Eclipse re-occur at the same date after 6 months?
A.The combined gravitational pull between Earth-Moon-Sun creates a wobble in that nodal axis and so it oscillates. Due to this the dates of eclipses aren't repeated at the same dates.
Q. WHY MOON APPEARS RED SHADE DURING TOTALITY?
A. When the Totality stage arrives, the moon enters much of the Darker portion ( UMBRA) of earth's shadow. Logically one says that during maximum eclipse, the moon's view must be blocked totally making it dark and invisible for sometime but it doesn't happen.
It appears Brick or Copper Red !
The reason is at this stage, the sun's light is still traveling in the earth's atmosphere. We know that the WHITE light is composed of seven colors but as per Rayleigh's Scattering, the color having less wavelength will scatter more i.e prominently Violet,Blue and others. Since the Red color has higher wavelength than other colors, its less scattered and so when the sun's light exits the earth's atmosphere the red color spectrum is dominant. This light falls on the moon and we see its reflection. If there is more dust,volcanic ash etc in atmosphere then Moon's color will appear different ! There is a scale known as Danjon Scale which determines the color of moon which will be seen during total lunar eclipse
The French astronomer Andre-Louis Danjon proposed a useful five point scale for evaluating the visual appearance and brightness of the Moon during total lunar eclipses. 'L' values for various luminosities are defined as follows:
L = 0 Very dark eclipse.Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
L = 1 Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration. Details distinguishable only with difficulty.
L = 2 Deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
L = 3 Brick-red eclipse.Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
L = 4 Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse.Umbral shadow has a bluish, very bright rim.
Courtesy- Arvind Paranjpye
Q.Is Lunar Eclipse SAFE to Watch?
A. Absolutely YES!
Infact I will encourage the readers to hunt with their telescopes or binoculars or simple naked eyes to watch this celestial beauty..
Q.Is Lunar Eclipse connected to any Natural Calamity,disasters etc.
A. Absolutely not.
Q.What is the speed of the moon during this projection through Earth's shadow?
A. Around 1.6km/sec
More questions are welcomed at-
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