The return of the red moon
Yellowknifers have opportunity to view total lunar eclipse next week, partial solar eclipse expected later in the month
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 3, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's impossible to wake up early in the morning in Yellowknife and simultaneously view the Saharan sunrise and the Siberian sunset - except, perhaps, next Wednesday.
Photographer Dave Brosha documented the total lunar eclipse on Dec. 21, 2010, from the vantage of the Dettah Ice Road. A total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America early on Oct. 8. - Dave Brosha photo |
Residents across the territory are set to experience a total lunar eclipse between 4:25 a.m. and 5:24 a.m. on Oct. 8, if clouds don't obscure the view. During this rare phenomenon, Earth's shadow typically covers the surface of the moon with a deep red or dark orange hue.
"What we will see is the light from all the sunsets and all the sunrises of Earth cast onto the darkened moon," said Stephen Bedingfield, a Yellowknife member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
The moon's reddish appearance is caused by sunlight being filtered through the Earth's atmosphere on the sides of the planet, which is then refracted and projected onto the lunar surface, he explained.
Depending on the concentration of cloud-cover above Western India, Siberia and West Africa at the time, the light may appear orange if skies are clear or red if clouds are dense, he added.
The last total lunar eclipse visible from Yellowknife was this past spring on April 15 and the next two will be April 4 and Sept. 28, 2015.
"Lunar eclipses can only happen during a full moon when the moon passes through the conical shadow of the Earth," said Bedingfield. "When the moon passes through the deepest part of the shadow, the moon takes on an orangish or reddish tinge."
The Earth's shadow will begin creeping from right to left across the moon at 3:15 a.m. The shadow will be gone from the moon by 6:34 a.m., following the hour-long total eclipse.
Sunrise in Yellowknife on Oct. 8 is at 8:05 a.m.
"There's a good chance for a nice photo," said Bedingfield, provided clouds do not interfere.
A photo Bedingfield shot of the last lunar eclipse on April 15 from the vantage of the Dettah ice road was published in the latest edition of SkyNews Magazine, a Canadian publication dedicated to astronomy and stargazing.
He plans to capture Wednesday morning's total lunar eclipse by attaching his camera up to a portable 80-millimetre refractor telescope, which can be set to track the moon in its orbit around Earth, or simply by using a tripod with a wide-field lens.
"There's lots of time to shoot this total lunar eclipse, so take lots of test shots using different exposures," he said.
During the total phase of the lunar eclipse on Wednesday between 4:25 and 5:24 a.m. the moon will be between 24 to 18 degrees above the horizon. This means photographers may be able to frame it with objects silhouetted in the foreground, such as treetops, rooftops or the monumental United in Celebration sculpture installed in Somba K'e Civic Plaza by the late artist Francois "T-Bo" Thibault, he added.
The total lunar eclipse, unlike a solar eclipse, poses no danger to the eye, said Randy Attwood, executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
"Looking at the eclipse of the moon is perfectly safe because all you're doing is you're looking at a full moon, which is losing its light," he said. "Solar eclipses are a little different. There's a safety issue involved, but for this one it's perfectly safe."
Viewers can watch the phenomenon with the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars, said Bedingfield.
"If you can see the moon, you can see this total lunar eclipse," he said.
Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, cannot guarantee the moon will be visible on Wednesday morning.
"It's likely to be mainly cloudy with a slight chance of flurries," he said. "We're just looking at our forecast models and the American forecast models for Wednesday morning and at this point in time neither looks really positive or optimistic in terms of cloud cover for the Yellowknife area. We're in the backside of a low-pressure system that's going to go through the area in the Monday-Tuesday time frame and it's really looking like it's not going to clear significantly behind it."
The next astronomical event Yellowknife residents can watch for after next week's total lunar eclipse will be a partial solar eclipse on Oct. 23. Eye protection will be required to view that eclipse.
