Lunar Eclipse Events, Israel Daylight Time (IDT)
03:11:46 Moon enters penumbra
04:07:12 Moon enters outer edge of umbra
05:11:11 Moon completely in umbra
05:47:09 Mid-eclipse
06:23:07 Moon begins to emerge from umbra, after moon set in Israel
07:27:06 Moon completely out of umbra, after moon set in Israel
08:22:33 Moon leaves penumbra, after moon set in Israel
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| View to the West with the moon half-eclipsed at 4:31AM IDT |
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| View to the West during totality, just before sunrise at 5:46AM IDT. This should be spectacular over the Mediterranean. |
This eclipse is notable for a number of reasons. 1) It's the fourth in a series of total lunar eclipses in two years. 2) It occurs when the moon is closest in its orbit to the earth, called the "perigee" of the orbit, and in modern times referred to as a "supermoon", although in reality it will only appear about 15% larger than a regular full moon in the sky. Nevertheless, everyone will marvel at how large it is, although this is not really observable unless you can compare the two moons side-by-side. 3) It is the Harvest Moon, the fulll moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox, used by farmers to extend the time they can see in the dark to conduct their harvest. 4) It is called a "blood moon", turning red from the diffraction of light around the edge of the earth into the shadow on the moon, essentially projecting all of the sunsets and sunrises into the shadow of the earth on the moon. The darkness of the eclipse and the reddening of the moon vary widely from eclipse to eclipse, depending on weather conditions on our planet and how central the eclipse is, i.e. how deep into the shadow of the earth the moon goes. Finally for Jews, this full moon occurs on the first night of Succot, no coincidence since the beginning of Succot always falls out on the 15th of Tishrei, the night of the full moon, as does Pesach in the month of Nissan. A lunar eclipse can only happen when the moon is full and opposite the sun in the sky. Some have made alot of this "blood moon" hearkening back to the Prophet Joel (2:31) "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD." I will let those better equipped to deal with Astrology deal with that one.
Since this eclipse occurs during the first day of Succot I will not be doing an early morning star tour but will merely be enjoying it personally. Star tours will continue normally during Chol Hamoed.
Want to photograph the moon? Here are some tips on how: http://www.popphoto.com/how-to-photography-moon
