LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Magic 10/7/2014, 2:24 pm

IF SKY CONDITIONS COOPERATE, North Olympic Peninsula residents should be able to see a total lunar eclipse the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Weather forecasts call for partly cloudy skies as October's full Hunter's Moon glides through the northern part of Earth's shadow.

The moon will gradually get darker and then take on a coppery-red or deep-red hue once it is completely in the Earth's shadow, prompting some to label this a “blood moon” eclipse.

The official start of the eclipse is 1:17 a.m., when the east side of the moon moves into the outer fuzzy part of Earth's shadow, the penumbra.

A clearly defined dark bite out of the east side of the moon appears at 2:18 a.m., marking the moon's passage into the umbra, the dark inner shadow of the earth.

The eclipse becomes total at 3:55 a.m.

The moon remains totally eclipsed until 4:22 a.m. It comes to an end at 5:34 a.m.

In case of clouds, look online to www.Slooh.com, where the eclipse will be webcast live starting at 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Other sky events

■ In about two weeks, the Peninsula gets another cosmic treat: A partial eclipse of the sun Thursday afternoon, Oct. 23.

The moon takes its first bite out of the sun at 1:34 p.m., and maximum eclipse is at 2:59 p.m., when almost 52 percent of the sun's face will be covered.

The eclipse ends at 4:18 p.m., about two hours before the sun sets.

When watching any solar eclipse, do not observe it directly without protection. This can cause permanent eye damage or blindness.

Sunglasses won't work. Wear welder's goggles rated 14 or higher, or use a pinhole projector.

For lunar eclipses, no special precautions or gizmos are necessary.

■ Look for the annual Orionid meteors — up to 20 meteors an hour — streaming from the south after midnight Oct. 21 and 22.

■ The International Space Station, now carrying the six crew members of Expedition 41, makes appearances in our Peninsula sky every night this week and evenings through much of the rest of the month.

Here is a link for spotting the ISS in your area http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm#.VDRZ8vldXV1

cravnravn 10/8/2014, 3:26 am

Guess those times were PST? I'm viewing it right now, its almost total eclipse now

Guest 10/8/2014, 11:13 am

cravnravn wrote:Guess those times were PST? I'm viewing it right now, its almost total eclipse now

Ha, the PST times got me too, Cravn. Was thinking to myself, "too bad, I'd like to see that..." when I saw the post. Went out to get the paper this am and there she was! A slight crescent as the eclipse was moving past full... pretty cool.

Magic 10/8/2014, 11:46 am

Of course here I had clouds and fog so it was just dark outside wtf

Guest 10/8/2014, 1:42 pm

Clear as a bell this morning.

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LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Re: LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Re: LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Re: LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Re: LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....

Re: LOOK Up In The Sky.....its a bird....its a plane....