SkyandTelescope.com - Observing Blog - Lunar Eclipse on August 28th

nobody@vox.com(Kingoftwilite) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:05:29 +0000

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Skywatchers in the Americas get their second total eclipse of the Moon this year on Tuesday morning, August 28th. But as with the first one (back on March 3rd), you may find that the shadowed Moon is intimately involved with bright twilight and your local horizon, depending on where you are.The Moon sets during the eclipse over much of America. Click above for a larger map.S&T Illustration In fact, this eclipse is practically a mirror image of the one in March. It will happen while the Moon is sinking low in the west before or during dawn, instead of rising in the east during or after dusk. And this time, westerners in North America get the good view, while easterners are the ones who’ll miss some or most of the show.The farther west you are, the better. In the Pacific time zone, you’ll see the Moon’s edge begin slipping into the dark part of Earth’s shadow very early, at 1:51 a.m. PDT. Totality, with the Moon completely in shadow, runs from 2:52 to 4:23 a.m. PDT, and the last partial stage of the eclipse ends at 5:24 a.m. PDT. At that time the Moon is still fairly well up in the southwest and dawn is perhaps only beginning to break.These events happen an hour later by the clock in each time zone farther east. This means Midwesterners will see the Moon approach the horizon and become lost in the light of dawn while totality is still in progress. And in New England the Moon will be low and the sky quite bright before totality starts.Total Eclipse of the Moon, August 28, 2007Eclipse stagePDTMDTCDTEDTPartial eclipse begins1:51 a.m.2:51 a.m.3:51 a.m.4:51 a.m.Total eclipse begins2:52 a.m.3:52 a.m.4:52 a.m.5:52 a.m.Total eclipse ends4:23 a.m.5:23 a.m.6:23 a.m.Partial eclipse ends5:24 a.m.6:24 a.m. These complications will offer interesting photo opportunities. Remember that the Moon appears very small by normal photographic standards: ½° wide, less than the size of your little fingernail seen at arm’s length. So zoom your camera in as far as you can. See our onlin...

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StarDate Online - Your Guide to the Universe

nobody@vox.com(Kingoftwilite) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:58:17 +0000

StarDate Online - Your Guide to the Universe

http://stardate.org/

One of the biggest stars in our region of the galaxy is Antares. It's not far to the upper right of the Moon at nightfall, and it shows a distinctly orange color. As a red supergiant, it is doomed to blow itself apart as a supernova.

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Deep Prose Releases Uranus 1.0 - Astronomy App for iPhone/iPod Touch

nobody@vox.com(prMac) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:18:30 +0000

Deep Prose Software announced today the immediate availability of Uranus 1.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch. With a vast database of over 100,000 stars, planets, galaxies and more plotted in real-time right on your portable device, it's a powerful tool for astronomers of all levels of ability. Version 1.0 is the initial release.

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Vox’s posts tagged planets

SkyandTelescope.com - Observing Blog - Lunar Eclipse on August 28th

StarDate Online - Your Guide to the Universe

Deep Prose Releases Uranus 1.0 - Astronomy App for iPhone/iPod Touch