Before dawn Tuesday, in different parts of the world, people either stayed up late or got up early and watched a colorful total eclipse of the moon. They saw the moon’s bright white surface slowly turn to coppery red and brown.
Astronomical Society of Victoria vice-president Terry Vlahos remained upbeat about the event despite the moon’s virtual no-show.
“It’s better than nothing,” he said, as a sliver of the moon disappeared.
“I’m happy with the turnout and people seem to be having a good time. We can see Jupiter and some of the other constellations.”
In San Francisco - along Market Street and in the Mission, for example - but fog over the Sunset and the outer Richmond disappointed anyone who had hoped to watch the event.
As scheduled, the Earth’s shadow started covering the moon’s face at 1:51 a.m. and the eclipse became total at 2:52 a.m. By 4:22 a.m., the moon emerged from the shadow, and by 5:24 a.m. the show was over.
It was the second and final such eclipse of 2007.
Longer red-coloured light waves pass through the atmosphere but are refracted, creating a diffuse pattern that gives the moon its reddish tinge during lunar eclipses.
The next total lunar eclipse is due for West Coast viewing Feb. 20, at 7:01 a.m. Pacific time, according to NASA eclipse guru Fred Espenak.
The one after that will occur in December 2010.
Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse requires no special equipment and presents no danger to the eyes.