Of eclipses twice have I written lately. HERE and HERE
The first post was about the lunar cycle called a “tetrad”. The second was about the lunar eclipse visible in Jerusalem at the time Christ died, and the resulting solar eclipse as viewed from the Moon.
It is going to be short, so don’t dawdle.
Here is some information about tomorrow’s full lunar eclipse from SpaceWeather.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON: On Saturday morning, April 4th, the shadow of the Earth will fall across the Moon, turning the lunar disk a beautiful shade of celestial red. The total eclipse will be visible from the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, Australia, New Zealand and eastern parts of Asia.
Some total eclipses last for more than an hour. In this case, however, totality spans just 4 minutes and 43 seconds—a result of the fact that the Moon is skimming the outskirts of Earth’s shadow rather than passing centrally through it. The brevity of the eclipse highlights the importance of watching the clock: Be outside no later than 4:58 AM PDT (11:58 UT) to witness the red Moon.
Why red?
A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it’s not. The rim of the planet looks like it is on fire. As you scan your eye around Earth’s circumference, you’re seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth’s shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb when viewed from Earth.
Red is not the only color, however. Sometimes observers spot a subtle band of turquoise.
This is the “ozone fringe.” Atmospheric scientist Richard Keen of the University of Colorado explains: “Most of the light illuminating the Moon passes through the stratosphere, and is reddened by scattering. However, light passing through the upper stratosphere penetrates the ozone layer, which absorbs red light and actually makes the passing light ray bluer.” This can be seen, he says, as a turquoise border around the red. Be alert for both colors on Saturday morning!
There’s some great animation over there.
How about in between? The old axiom, for the Lenten fast, is “Liquidum non frangit ieiunium … liquid does not break the fast”, provided you are drinking for the sake of thirst, rather than for eating. Common sense suggests that chocolate banana shakes or “smoothies”, etc., are not permissible, even though they are pretty much liquid in form. They are not what you would drink because you are thirsty, as you might more commonly do with water, coffee, tea, wine in some cases, lemonade, even some of these sports drinks such as “Gatorade”, etc. Again, common sense applies, so figure it out.
Drinks such as coffee and tea seem not break the Lenten fast even if they have a little milk added, or a bit of sugar, or fruit juice, which in the case of tea might be lemon.
revueltos67 on ROME 26/10-11 – Day 36: Ultimate: “A.S. Haley: After 1. Qf4+ black has Qxf4.”
