Australian Sky & Telescope — January 01, 2018

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 55

A stellar setting
No two lunar eclipses are the same.
You may notice that the umbra isn’t
completely dark, even during totalit
This is due to the refraction of sunli
by Earth’s atmosphere, which gives t
shadow an orange hue. This bending
of the sunlight produces colourful
sunrises and sunsets on Earth. The
colour seen during a lunar eclipse
is also affected by how deeply the
Moon goes into the umbra, as the
umbra’s centre is darker than its edges.
Atmospheric conditions can affect the
hue; for example, ash from a volcanic
eruption can result in a darker red,
grey or black colour.
Look around the sky during totality.
Regulus, Procyon and Pollux will each
be roughly 20° from the eclipsed
Moon, with the Moon sitting in the
middle of a triangle formed by the
three stars. The Beehive Cluster (M44)
will be around 5° to the left of the
Moon. You might spot the odd meteor,
too, as the minor shower known as
the Delta Cancrids has its radiant near
the Beehive — but even at maximum
(January 17) it reaches only about four
meteors per hour.
Circumstances for Australian
observers for the second lunar eclipse
of 2018, on July 28, won’t be quite
as favourable as January’s, but it will
still be very much worth experiencing.
It will be a morning eclipse, so the
Moon will be on its way to setting in
the eastern sky. For Australia’s eastern
states, the eclipse will begin in the pre-
dawn hours as the sky is just beginning
to brighten... with the second half of
the eclipse missed following moonset.
South Australia and the Northern
Territory will see right up to the end
of totality, while those in Western
Australia will witness the whole event
prior to moonset.
There’ll also be three solar eclipses
during 2018, but only one will be seen
from Australia — a partial event on July
13 — and then only briefly from certain
far southern locations. See our 2018
observing guide on the previous pages
LEAH TISCIONE / for more details.

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An eclipsed Moonisalwaysfull,sotheSunsetsorrisesatalmostthesametimeontheopposite

horizon. This means that a lunar-eclipse moonrise always happens in a very bright sky.

Moon

leaves

penumbra

16:10 UT

Total

eclipse

ends

14:08 UT

Mid-

eclipse

13:30 UT

Partial

eclipse

ends

15:12 UT

Partial

eclipse

begins

11:48 UT

Moon enters

penumbra

10:50 UT

East

West

North

South

Moon’s

path

Total

eclipse

begins

12:51 UT

P (^) E
(^) N (^) U
(^) M B R A
(^)
(^) U (^) M B R A
Total eclipse of the Moon, January 31, 2018
Eclipse Event UT AEST ACST AWST
Penumbra first visible 10:50 8:50 pm 8:20 pm 6:50 pm
Partial eclipse begins 11:48 9:48 pm 9:18 pm 7:48 pm
Total eclipse begins 12:51 10:51 pm 10:21 pm 8:51 pm
Mid-eclipse 13:30 11:30 pm 11:00 pm 9:30 pm
Total eclipse ends 14:08 12:08 am 11:38 pm 10:08 pm
Partial eclipse ends 15:12 1:12 am 12:42 am 11:12 pm
Penumbra last visible 16:10 2:10 am 1:40 am 12:10 am