THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249   www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street   Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W 
Altitude:  10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian Date: 2458809.16
2019-2020:  LVII
               "Heavens above!"

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Thursday,  November 21, 2019
Our Next Lunar Eclipse

won't technically be total, but will just look that way.
On November 19, 2021, we will experience our next nearly total lunar eclipse.   When at maximum eclipse, more than 95% of the moon will be immersed in Earth's inner shadow, the umbra.  Consequently, we should  still observe the crimson coloration we associate with such eclipses.    
Lunar_eclipse_chart_close-2021Nov19.png
The moon's path during the November 19, 2021 lunar eclipse. We notice that the eclipse will ALMOST be total.   When  the eclipse is at maximum, it will still exhibit the reddish coloration one tends to see when the moon is totally immersed in the umbra.      Image:  Eclipse Wise

Provided the skies are clear, we should be able to see all but the very last part of this eclipse:  the part when the moon has left the umbra and is moving slowly out of the penumbra.     That is the phase of eclipses that fail to excite the senses, as the penumbra doesn't obscure the moon noticeably.  Besides, after the maximum eclipse ends, interest wanes exponentially.    (Seriously:   we've seen a crowd of 256 shrink to 0.4 within ten seconds of totality's conclusion..)

One drawback of this future eclipse will be the timing.    We'll have to venture out after midnight to behold the spectacle.   Also, as it will occur on the Friday prior to Thanksgiving, this lunar eclipse might not garner as many people as many eclipse events have attracted.

All the same, we are still giddy with excitement at the prospect of yet another lunar eclipse on our somewhat near horizon.      We will discuss this event many times until the actual event, which will seem to arrive within a few weeks of this posting even though it is 729 days away.   Such is the wonder of time dilation.  


To subscribe or unsubscribe from the "Daily Astronomer"
http://lists.maine.edu/cgi/wa?A0=DAILY-ASTRONOMER