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back to article RED MOON to GO DARK tonight in Pacific eclipse

The last lunar eclipse of the year, and the last total one until 2014, will turn the Moon red for some lucky viewers. The eclipse will kick off as the Moon passes though the shadow of the planet at 14:06:16 UT on 10 December. Viewers in the Western US and Hawaii will get a glimpse just before moonset, but the best views will …

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  1. Ian Bush

    Pollution?

    "The eclipse will also allow stargazers good views of other planets, by cutting out a major source of light pollution"

    The moon is light pollution? So I suppose the big yellow shiny thing during the say is as well? Or is it a case of BLOW UP THE MOON SO WE CAN SEE THE STARS!

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    2. Local Group
      Reply Icon
      Childcatcher

      Blow up the moon?

      In a pig's eye.

      What would become of "The tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune?"

      Little pieces of moon rock orbiting the earth, leading to no fortune whatsoever.

      Meh!

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  2. James Micallef Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Top marks for the sub-heading

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  3. Robert Ramsay
    Thumb Up

    That subhead is absolutely brilliant.

    I rank that one up with "Intel and AMD piss on each other's chips" "Wife auction goes titsup" and the one about Alcatel laying off loads of people: "Sack Ray Blur"

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    1. Jim 59
      Reply Icon

      Alan Quartermain

      Nice sub heading with an idea borrowed from the second edition of King Solomon's mines. In the first edition it was a solar eclipse but Haggard changed it to be more astronomically plausable. I don't get invited to many parties.

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  4. CaptSmeg
    FAIL

    ".. lensing effect of the atmosphere.." hmm.. I think you will find this is not true. Rather it is an optical illusion. Well that's what Patrick Moore told me once on telly.

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  5. dotdavid
    Coat

    Tribe

    "Prisoner of an ignorant tribe? Now's your chance"

    My colleagues object to your description of them. Apparently I'm free to go whenever I want...

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  6. rurwin
    Paris Hilton

    You missed the poetry.

    During a lunar eclipse the moon is illuminated by every sunrise and sunset everywhere on the Earth.

    (We'll always have PARIS)

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  7. Martin
    Thumb Up

    ...zodiacal Bull....

    Spot on, I call that !

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    1. Wayland Sothcott 1
      Reply Icon

      Moron!

      The Zodiac was invented thousands of years ago to study the movement of the heavenly bodies and how they relate to mans affairs. Astronomy is a recent development and has yet to relate the stars to man to the extent that astrology does.

      The very basics are that the Earth revolves causing day and night, that the moon orbits Earth causing the tides and the Earth orbits the sun causing the seasons. These things affect man. The whole solar system runs like clockwork with orbiting planets, Astrology will tell you that these also affect man, astronomy has yet to grasp this.

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  9. Annihilator
    Thumb Down

    .co.uk

    Would it kill you to even at least mention whether anything is visible from the UK? Even half a sentence would have been a nice thought.

    As far as I can figure out, moonrise tomorrow will be the only slim chance, the further south you live in the UK, the better. Probably around 16:00 GMT.

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    1. Notas Badoff
      Reply Icon

      (sigh)

      "Viewers in the Western US and Hawaii will get a glimpse just before moonset, but the best views will be in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, who will see the full 51 minute eclipse."

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      1. Annihilator
        Reply Icon
        WTF?

        @Notas Badoff

        Thanks for that, I can read the article too. But nowhere does it say it will/won't be in the UK - my entire point. It only tells me where in the US you can see it, and where the "best views" will be, not whether it's completely invisible here.

        As I say, if we're lucky we can catch a glimpse of a partial eclipse at moonrise.

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    2. Allan George Dyer
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      and you could have posted it before...

      I left work yesterday, so that I had the choice to set my alarm clock for just before 06:00 HKT.

      Much as I would have liked to have seen it, I'm not saying that I would have got up, but I'd have appreciated the choice.

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  10. TeeCee Gold badge
    Joke

    Eclipse description.

    "...bright orange, or even copper-colored, with a possible hint of turquoise at the edge,"

    He's a bloody Mac user isn't he?

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  11. heyrick Silver badge

    What else to look at?

    How about taking the time to look at JUPITER? Brightest thing in the sky 'cept for the Moon itself.

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    1. Local Group
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      Childcatcher

      Spot On (great red spot, that is)

      I have been looking at Jupiter too, for about fortnight or three.

      I from time to time I see tiny flickers of red. Can red light from Jupiter's Great Spot be seen by the naked eye or am I crazier than I think? I swear I saw flickers of red before I knew it was Jupiter. (Places right hand on Bible.) I live in a rural area of Southern California.

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  12. Steven Roper
    Unhappy

    Best views weren't had in Australia

    or at least within 200 km of Adelaide, as there was a fucking huge belt of cloud covering the entire state for the duration of the eclipse. No rain, just a sheet of stratus heavy enough to block the moon out. My friend and I drove all over the Adelaide Hills and Murray Basin with nary a glimpse of the moon to be had.

    But the next day was clear and cloudless - how's that for weather pissing in your face?

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  13. Howard
    Happy

    Not all of Australia was under clouds

    The view of this eclipse from SW Western Australia was terrific. Bronze, brown and dark red tones were observed (but not a hint of turquoise).

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Was seen in the Maldives...

    in between a few clouds, quite stunning and very red indeed. Also very unexpected, no one there new it was going to happen.

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  15. mark 63 Silver badge

    "Posted in Space, 9th December 2011 13:16 GMT"

    "... though the shadow of the planet at 14:06:16 UT on 10 December"

    well thanks for the heads up!

    a couple more days notice might have been nice. [/ grumble]

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  16. Michael Dunn
    Happy

    How much notice do you need?

    Full details including start, max and end times, and area from which the eclipse was visible, were given in the December 10th section of my Tibetan calendar for 2011-2012 (Iron Rabbit year 2138).

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