Total Lunar Eclipse - Extreme Brightness Afterwards - January 20-21

[Curt Renz]

A Total Lunar Eclipse can be seen by those with clear skies in the Americas during the evening of Sunday 2019 JAN 20. Many in Europe should be able to witness totality during the predawn hours of Monday 2019 JAN 21.

I’ve calculated that after the Moon leaves the penumbra it will be the brightest Moon since 2001 JAN 09-10 and until 2096 NOV 29-30. This is due to the confluence of the Moon being near Perigee, Perihelion and Ecliptic. Some in the media have been hyping this as a so-called SuperMoon for being near Perigee. But they have been overlooking the Perihelion and Ecliptic factors that will make this Full Moon especially bright when just outside of the Earth’s shadow.

Below is a link to my Moon webpage. It includes a preview graphic for the eclipse as seen against an imaginary blue wall to make the shadow fully apparent. The predicted event timings are in CST (UT-6), but will occur at essentially the same real time for all observers experiencing nighttime. The depicted orientation and Moon altitudes are for an observer in Chicago.

Photos and descriptions of the eclipse would be welcome additions to this thread.

Link: Moon

 

[swaltner]

Looking forward to this. Planning on heading to the nearby public observatory to view with their 16” telescope. Use it as an excuse to touch base with the local astronomy club and eventually get some guidance on using my Coronado telescope.

Hoping the clouds in Kansas go away by Sunday evening. Had some dense fog the last couple days, snow storm forecast for Friday/Saturday.

 

[mrgrtt123]

Reading the title kinda reminds me of Veronica the Spanish horror film.