When the Moon Swallowed by the Shadow of the Earth

In this Thursday June 16, 2011 file photo, the moon exhibits a deep orange glow as the Earth casts its shadow in a total lunar eclipse. (Picture from: http://www.blippitt.com/)

Moon will turn red again this weekend. In contrast to the total lunar eclipse in June, which transform the moon into blood-red hue, this time lunar eclipse creating much darker.

Blackish red color occurs because the moon was in the deepest shadow of the earth. The whole area of ​​Indonesia can witness this rare phenomenon on December 10, 2011.

Total lunar eclipse. 

The whole procession of the entry of the moon into the shadow of the earth, which is counted as the saros cycle 135, will last for nearly six hours. Saros cycle is a recurring pattern of eclipse every 18 years.

The process begins when an eclipse of the moon enters Earth's shadow blurred at 18:33 pm Western Indonesia Times. It was a new moon rises in the eastern horizon when the sun's light still glowed in the sky. This scene will be a memorable experience because of the full moon is seen near the horizon will be coated screen blue sky.

"The eclipse began at dusk so it could be the object of great photography," said Director of the Observatory Bosscha Hakim Lutfi Malasan when contacted yesterday.

World map showing regions where the Total Lunar Eclipse is visible. (Picture from: http://eclipsegeeks.com/)

Moon from entering the Earth's dark shadow at 19:45 pm Western Indonesia Times. During the next 80 minutes the surface of the moon slowly swallowed by the dark shadow of the earth. Totality occurs starting at 21:06 pm West Indonesia Times, when the entire surface of the moon entered the earth's dark shadow.

Total phase will occur for 51 minutes with a peak of the eclipse at 21:32 pm Western Indonesia Times. At totality, the moon is at an altitude of 60 degrees from the eastern horizon.

Systematic Total Eclipse of the Moon December 10, 2011. (Sources: Fred Espenak / NASA)

"The moon at this height is very comfortable view," said Hakim.

This time a total lunar eclipse certainly attracted more people than the eclipse of the moon in June. The reason, an eclipse occurs during prime time (prime time), from dusk until midnight.

"The eclipse times this happens when people are still awake and enjoy a relaxing Sunday night," he said.

After hiding in the shadows dark, the moon slowly revealing manifestation began at 21:57 pm Western Indonesia Times. The entire surface of the moon out of the dark shadow at 23:18 pm Western Indonesia Times. Procession eclipse ends at Sunday, December 11th, at 0:30 pm Western Indonesia Times.

Unfortunately, the weather factor potentially damaging to the public the opportunity to enjoy a total lunar eclipse this time. December was in the middle of the rainy season so that the cloud cover will be higher. However, the weather factor is determined more by local factors.

The two provinces that are most likely free of cloud cover in West and East Nusa Tenggara. Therefore, the satellite record shows that this 2 regions are temperate drier than other locations in Indonesia.

Chance of overshadowing expected not dampen the enthusiasm of people in watching the eclipse. This rare phenomenon can only be witnessed again in the next six years, ie on January 31, 2018. In fact during the period of "empty" it contained three times the eclipse of the moon, between 2014 and 2015. But the views of the moon swallowed by shadows can only be witnessed in most of Indonesia, and even then not all phases can be seen.

If the sky is overcast, Bosscha Observatory and the Ministry of Communications and Informatics of Republic of Indonesia has set up facilities, live streaming via the web page http://kominfo.go.id. The live broadcast of the eclipse observations at six points throughout Indonesia, namely Lembang, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung, Pekanbaru, and Mataram.

"The point of observation, spread open the potential for a brighter sky conditions," he said.

Last June, the live eclipse simultaneously visited by 5,000 people. More visitors could cripple the two servers Ministry.

Learning from experience, plus a three-unit servers with increased bandwidth and resolution of the image so that the eclipse live viewing over the Internet is expected to be more smoothly.

Jakarta Planetarium in Cikini and Tenggarong Planetarium, East Kalimantan also conducted observations of activities together with the community. Some portable telescope has been prepared for the observations together. *** [ANTON WILLIAM | KORAN TEMPO 3729]

Telescoped Eclipse, Researching Pollution

Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, Bandung, take advantage of the moment of total eclipse the moon by the end of 2011 to study the pollution levels in the atmosphere. Changes in the composition of pollutants in the past six months can be known.

Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, Bandung.

According to Director Bosscha Observatory Hakim Lutfi Malasan, pollutants in the atmosphere comes in the form of aerosols that floated high in the stratosphere layer. Aerosol is a constituent component of the giant air lens formed by the earth's atmosphere.

"The sunlight is filtered through the atmosphere by aerosols," said Hakim yesterday.

When the eclipse, the moon acts as a screen capture of light scattering by the giant lens. The telescope can decipher the moon light reflected back to earth. Assisted by a spectrograph, a tool decomposing light, astronomers can find anywhere light is lost by aerosol.

Black line in the spectrum of the atmosphere into a clue what kind of pollutants are present in Earth's atmosphere. For decades, astronomers have devised a fingerprint left by pollutants in sunlight. Spectral lines black levels also determine the volume of pollutants.

"Eclipse of the moon can be used to determine the size of atmospheric impurities," Hakim added.

To investigate the pollution, the Observatory allocate a telescope equipped with a spectrograph of the three telescopes used for observations of the eclipse on December 10, 2011. During the 51 minute total eclipse phase, the telescope will collect light reflected in the Earth's atmosphere.

The results of these observations will be compared with the data a total lunar eclipse in June. Thus, changes in the composition of pollutants in the past six months can be known.*** [ANTON WILLIAM | KORAN TEMPO 3729]


Update:

Total eclipse on December 10, 2011 taken by phone from Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia.