Eclipse is coming
This photo shows a partial lunar eclipse.
A total lunar eclipse will be visible to Northeast Arkansas
residents Wednesday night, providing skies are clear. Kenneth
Renshaw of Piggott made the photograph above a couple of
years ago using a telescope in his backyard.
A lunar eclipse will be visible to Northeast
Arkansas residents Wednesday.
Piggott resident and astronomer Kenneth Renshaw said the
eclipse should be visible starting around 8:15 p.m. Total
eclipse will occurs around 9:23 p.m. and will end about
10:45 p.m.
The partial eclipse will continue until
11:54 p.m., Renshaw said.
"For North America, this particular
eclipse is what I refer to as the prime-time eclipse,"
said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
"It's ideally suited for casual observing,"
he continued.
"We're positioned in a good spot ...
to see the eclipse," Renshaw, who has been viewing
the skies since he was 16, said.
It can be seen with the naked eye and can
be viewed without any kind of eye protection. Renshaw, a
NASA solar system ambassador, said that filters or other
devises are required for viewing solar eclipses because
of the potential for eye damage -- even blindness -- that
can occur when looking directly into the sun. Since the
moon reflects light, it does not cause the same problems.
Another advantage is that the eclipse will occur during
a time frame which makes it easy for lots of people to see,
the astronomer said, adding that it will be beneficial if
the night is cool and crisp -- not cold. And, of course,
he said, the sky needs to be clear.
Renshaw said the Oct. 27 event should offer
the best opportunity in a number of years for people in
this region to witness a total lunar eclipse, an event that
occurs when the earth passes directly between the sun and
the moon, casting a shadow across the moon.
When the eclipse is total, he said, the
moon usually is still visible but as a copper colored disc.
That, he said, is influenced by the spectrology in the earth's
atmosphere.
Renshaw will set up a telescope at his home
at 254 North Taylor Ave., in Piggott so that interested
area residents can view the eclipse. He will use a 6-inch
Newtonian reflector telescope which should provide a good
close-up view of the moon during the event.
Photographers can record the event on still
or video cameras, and astronomers suggest viewing the eclipse
through telescopes or binoculars to enhance colors.
The earth's shadow has two parts, astronomers say. There's
the umbra and penumbra. The umbra is that part of the shadow
that is total. The penumbra is the part of a shadow that
is partial.
In other parts of the earth, the eclipse
will not be as striking as it will be in North America,
officials say. Neither will it occur at as convenient a
time slot as it will in Northeast Arkansas.
Besides seeing a total lunar eclipse, viewers
also can see the fall and winter constellations during the
eclipse. The moon will be in southern Aires. Pegasus will
be to the west, and Taurus and Orion will be to the east,
NASA officials have said.
"This will be a good time to experience
an eclipse," Renshaw stressed, adding that he hopes
the weather will cooperate and the skies will be clear.
