A total lunar eclipse will occur on the next full Moon, Oct 8th. The eclipse will be visible across much of the western hemisphere, including the west coast of North America and across the Pacific. This is an excellent eclipse for observers here in Hawai’i, the entire eclipse will be visible from start to end.
Total lunar eclipse, photo is a 8sec exposure with a Canon 20Da on a 90mm f/12 APOSome references note that this eclipse will occur on the 8th, and so it will for much of the world. For Hawai’i this will start late on the 7th when considering the time zone correction.
The Moon will be thoroughly submerged in the umbra, the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, with an umbral magnitude of 1.16. The Moon will not pass directly through the umbra, but rather through the northern section, thus the north pole of the Moon will remain somewhat brighter, even at maximum. The eclipse occurs at the Moon’s descending node in southern Pisces, two days after perigee (October 06 at 09:41 UT). This means that the Moon will appear 5.3% larger than it did during the April 15 eclipse (32.7 vs. 31.3 arc-minutes).
Observing a total lunar eclipse requires no special equipment, simply the desire to look up. The most useful piece of equipment will be a reclining chair or some other method of staying comfortable while watching the sky. A pair of binoculars or small telescope can provide beautiful views of the Moon during an eclipse. Photography is somewhat more challenging, but not that difficult. Focal lengths of around 1000mm will fill the field of most DSLR cameras allowing photos like that shown here.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins
22:15:33 HST
08:15:33 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins
23:14:48 HST
09:14:48 UT
Total Eclipse Begins
00:25:10 HST
10:25:10 UT
Greatest Eclipse
00:54:36 HST
10:54:36 UT
Total Eclipse Ends
01:24:00 HST
11:24:00 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends
02:34:21 HST
12:34:21 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends
03:33:43 HST
13:33:43 UT
Timing for the 7Oct2013 total lunar eclipse
The entire eclipse will be visible during the night, quite convenient for amateur and casual sky-watchers. This is an excellent eclipse to publicize and use for outreach purposes.
A total lunar eclipse will occur on the next full Moon, April 14th. The eclipse will be visible across much of the western hemisphere, including the west coast of North America and across the Pacific. This is an excellent eclipse for observers here in Hawai’i, the entire eclipse will be visible from start to end.
Total lunar eclipse, photo is a 8sec exposure with a Canon 20Da on a 90mm f/12 APOSome references note that this eclipse will occur on the 15th, and so it will for much of the world. For Hawai’i this will occur late on the 14th when considering the time zone correction.
The Moon will be thoroughly submerged in the umbra, the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, with an umbral magnitude of 1.29. The Moon will not pass directly through the umbra, but rather through the northern section, thus the north pole of the Moon will remain somewhat brighter, even at maximum.
Observing a total lunar eclipse requires no special equipment, simply the desire to look up. The most useful piece of equipment will be a reclining chair or some other method of staying comfortable while watching the sky. A pair of binoculars or small telescope can provide beautiful views of the Moon during an eclipse. Photography is somewhat more challenging, but not that difficult. Focal lengths of around 1000mm will fill the field of most DSLR cameras allowing photos like that shown here.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins
18:53:37 HST
04:53:37 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins
19:58:19 HST
05:58:19 UT
Total Eclipse Begins
21:06:47 HST
07:06:47 UT
Greatest Eclipse
21:45:40 HST
07:45:40 UT
Total Eclipse Ends
22:24:35 HST
08:24:35 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends
23:33:04 HST
09:33:04 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends
00:37:37 HST
10:37:37 UT
Timing for the 14Apr2013 total lunar eclipse
In Hawai’i the eclipse will begin not long after moonrise. The entire eclipse will be visible during the evening hours, quite convenient for amateur and casual sky-watchers. This is an excellent eclipse to publicize and use for outreach purposes.
The next total lunar eclipse in October will also be visible across the Pacific region. It will occur somewhat later in the night and be slightly brighter, only 1.16 umbral magnitude. With two good lunar eclipses 2014 is a treat for sky watchers across the western hemisphere. An annular eclipse is visible later in April in Australia and the South Indian Ocean, a partial solar eclipse is visible in late October across North America.
There are no exceptional sky events expected in 2014. A pair of good lunar eclipses, a decent Mars opposition, the usual meteor showers, and no bright comets predicted. There is one odd meteor shower that might provide some fireworks in May mentioned below. Otherwise there is always the possibility of a new discovery, a nova or supernova, or a new comet. For now this looks to be a routine year for sky watchers.
Mars during the 2005 opposition
Planets
Venus is as always a fun planet to follow through the year. The brilliant morning or evening star is always notable when it passes other bright objects such as the Moon or Jupiter. In April and May Venus will pass both ice giants, Uranus and Neptune with under a degree of separation. In August it will be Jupiter, passing about 35′ away on August 14th. The approach will be even closer if you are able to observe the pair during daylight hours, closing to 12′ at 08:06HST on the 14th.
Mars will pass through opposition on April 8th this year. This is a relatively good viewing opportunity with the red planet appearing just over 15″ in size. Close approach will be a week later, on April 14th. On September 27th Mars will pass about 3° from Antares.
Jupiter and Saturn continue to be well separated in the sky. This results in one or the other being available for observation much of the year. We start with Jupiter in the evening sky until early July. Saturn is currently in the early morning sky, passing through opposition May 10th and available for observation in the evening sky for the latter half of the year.
Minor Planets
The minor planets Ceres and Vesta are quite close all year. So close they will experience opposition in the same week. The dance will take place with the constellation Virgo as the backdrop. 4 Vesta will pass through opposition on April 13th, only two days later 1 Ceres will do the same on the 15th. At the same time the planet Mars will be just a few degrees south of the pair, going through opposition on April 8th. I wonder if the astrologers have noticed this? If so I am sure they will attach some ridiculous speculations to the event. They do not usually pay attention to the minor planets.
Total lunar eclipse, photo is a 8sec exposure with a Canon 20Da on a 90mm f/12 APO
Eclipses
There are two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses for 2014. An odd annular solar eclipse will be visible from Antarctica and Australia on April 29th. A deep partial solar eclipse will be visible across much of western North America on October 23rd. Neither will be visible from the islands.
The two lunar eclipses are more interesting. Both total eclipses will feature good magnitudes and the eclipses will both be visible in their entirety from Hawai’i. Better yet, the first eclipse will begin soon after sunset, providing an excellent viewing opportunity for outreach. Occurring on April 14th and October 7th, these will be the highlight of the year for eclipse aficionados.
Meteor Showers
2014 offers an interesting year for meteor watchers. Of the three most reliable showers it is the Quadrantids that will be seen to best effect in 2014, untroubled by moonlight. The Geminids will be partly obscured, while the Perseids will peak quite close to full Moon.
In addition to the traditional showers there are predictions for a new shower associated with Comet 209P LINEAR. In late May this debris stream may produce a strong, or even storm level meteor shower. Watch here for more information on this possible event.
Comets
While no spectacular comets are predicted for 2014 there are several decent comets available for telescopic observing or photography. Late summer and into early autumn look for comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS to peak around magnitude 6.
As usual you should keep tuned to Darker View for timely reminders of upcoming celestial events. Over a hundred posts are already entered and waiting for the appropriate date to pop up here, reminding you and I to keep looking up.
We were all ready to view to eclipse from Keck HQ in Waimea. The gear was ready to go, our astronomers setup to answer questions, the public invited…
It rained.
Not to be deterred I grabbed my little telescope and headed for the Sun. The satellite showed a reasonable possibility of clear skies in Kawaihae. As I rolled into the parking lot at Pu’u Kohala Heiau National Historic Site I found the hole in the clouds needed for eclipse photography.
I was not the first there, I met another gentleman setup with a 70mm Meade ETX, we chatted as I set up beside him. I found out later that a couple of the gals from CFHT were setup at Spencer Beach just below the heiau. For clear skies this was about the only reliable place on the island other than the summit.
I quickly setup my little TV-76mm and got the images I was looking for at maximum. We only got to 47% here on the big island, but still worth the effort to see.
Jan 15th, 2010 annular solar eclipse, photo by Dan BirchallA reminder that this afternoon we will have the opportunity to see a partial solar eclipse. For viewers further south, in Australia and across the South Pacific, this will be an annular eclipse. For viewers here in the Hawaiian islands this will be a deep partial solar eclipse, with well over 40% of the Sun obscured by the Moon. This is enough to produce a noticeable drop in the Sun’s brightness at mid-day.
Please exercise caution when viewing the Sun! Use appropriate eye protection or indirect observing techniques to project an image of the Sun. The link at the start of this paragraph leads to a great discussion on viewing the Sun safely. As always the single best source on the web (or anywhere) for eclipse and transit information is Fred Espenak’s eclipse website at NASA. Stop by whenever you have a question on upcoming events as well as viewing and photography tips.
During a deep partial such as this one check out the shadows under nearby vegetation. Small gaps in leaves can act like pinhole cameras projecting small crescent images of the Sun.
Jan 15th, 2010 annular solar eclipse photographed from Kampala, Uganda by Dan Birchall, used by permissionMay 9th will see a solar eclipse sweep across the Pacific. For viewers in Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean, this will be an annular eclipse, not a total eclipse. With the Moon near apogee and further from the Earth, its apparent size will not be quite enough to cover the entire disk of the Sun, resulting in a ring of light surrounding the silhouette of the Moon.
For viewers here in the Hawaiian islands this will be a deep partial solar eclipse, with well over 40% of the Sun obscured by the Moon. This is enough to produce a noticeable drop in the Sun’s brightness at mid-day.
Please exercise caution when viewing the Sun! Use appropriate eye protection or indirect observing techniques to project an image of the Sun. The link at the start of this paragraph leads to a great discussion on viewing the Sun safely. As always the single best source on the web (or anywhere) for eclipse and transit information is Fred Espenak’s eclipse website at NASA. Stop by whenever you have a question on upcoming events as well as viewing and photography tips.
