July 16, 2000 Lunar eclipse

July 12, 2000

NETWORK OF ASTROCAMERAS WILL BROADCAST SUNDAY’S TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE ACROSS THE INTERNET

Vancouver, Canada, July 12, 2000 - On Sunday, July 16th, the longest lunar eclipse in over a thousand years will be visible in the night sky. Unfortunately, this historic astronomical event won’t be visible to most of North America and Europe. But if you can’t watch it in person, you can watch it live on the Internet.

A network of astronomers in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia have teamed up to broadcast live images of Sunday’s eclipse onto the Internet for the benefit of the "geographically challenged", people living in areas on the planet that won’t be able to see the eclipse.

Starting on Sunday at 1157 GMT (4:57am PDT) the diverse team of professional and amateur astronomers will begin transferring images and video streams of the lunar eclipse to a network of websites hosting the event. The eclipse coverage will wrap up at 1553 GMT (10:57am PDT) when the moon exits the Earth’s shadow. A link to each of the cameras as well as ongoing weather monitoring of each station will be available at Universe Today.

Universe Today publisher, Fraser Cain explains why he coordinated the effort: "I live in Vancouver, Canada, so I’ll only see the end of the eclipse. I contacted several of my Australian and New Zealand astronomy friends online and asked them if they’d broadcast the eclipse so I could watch it through the Internet."

Sunday’s eclipse is very special, because the moon dives right through the very center of the Earth’s shadow - to within seconds of the theoretical maximum duration. Totality - when the moon is completely dark - lasts for an incredible 1 hour and 47 minutes. A total eclipse hasn't lasted this long since 1859 and it will not again for over a thousand years!

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow, it then changes color to anything from a deep red to a bright copper, depending on the amount of haze in the atmosphere. The best way to see a lunar eclipse is to stand away from streetlights and use a pair of binoculars. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye - no protective glasses needed.

Event sponsor Astronomy.com has organized a contest for the eclipse coverage, where visitors can win a variety of astronomy equipment, including telescopes, binoculars, and cameras. The contest includes prizes by Astronomy Magazine, Meade Instruments, Hardin Optical, Starsafaris, Berger Bros. Camera, American Science and Surplus, Discovery Telescopes, Science Art Co., Surplus Shed, Observation Concepts, Earth Treasures, Le Sueur Mfg., Optical Guidance Systems, Solarsense, Spherical Concepts, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Starlight Xpress, T-Quest Optical, Apogee CCD Cameras, ExploreSpace.com, Pocono Mountain Optics, and Night and Day.

To watch the eclipse as it happens, or to see the images afterwards, visit Universe Today.

FACT SHEET

Eclipse Date: July 16, 2000

Partial eclipse begins: 11:57 GMT (04:57am PDT)
Total Eclipse Begins:   13:02 GMT (06:02am PDT)
Mid-Eclipse:            13:56 GMT (06:56am PDT)
Total Eclipse Ends:     14:49 GMT (07:49am PDT)
Partial Eclipse Ends:   15:54 GMT (08:54am PDT)

Eclipse Coverage on Universe Today.

NASA Eclipse Resources, including images, maps, and photographs

Complete List of Camera Operators:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Sydney, Australia
Astronomical Society of Victoria - Melbourne, Australia
Astronomical Society of Flinders University - Adelaide, Australia
Calwell Lunar Observatory - Canberra, Australia
Auckland Observatory/Stardome - Auckland, New Zealand
City of Dunedin - Dunedin, New Zealand
AstroArts - Tokyo, Japan
Stargaze - Saitama, Japan
LIVE!ECLIPSE - Okinawa, Hokkaido, Alice Springs
the @stropages.com - San Diego, CA

the
U N I V E R S E 
  T O D A Y

Space Exploration News From Around the Internet, Updated Every Weekday.
July 12, 2000 - Issue #271

LIVE LUNAR ECLIPSE COVERAGE ON JULY 16TH

Universe Today will have live coverage of the total lunar eclipse on Sunday July 16, 2000. The eclipse won't be visible from North America or Europe, so we've gathered together a network of Astrocameras in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia to broadcast the event live. You can also enter a contest sponsored by Astronomy.com to win all kinds of astronomy equipment.

Full story.

=====================================================================
           SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN - JULY 7, 2000
=====================================================================
For images and Web links for these items, visit http://www.skypub.com
=====================================================================

PACIFIC LUNAR ECLIPSE

Hawaii, the Pacific Ocean, the Far East, and Australia are the best places to be for a grand lunar eclipse on July 16th, which is especially noteworthy because the Moon passes almost dead center through the Earth's shadow. As a result totality lasts an unusually long 1 hour 47 minutes, centered on 13:56 Universal Time (3:56 a.m. in Hawaii). This is the longest total lunar eclipse since August 13, 1859, according to the Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus, and the longest Earthlings will see again until sometime after the year 3000! For details see the July Sky & Telescope (page 103) or http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0007skyevents.html.

=====================================================================
Copyright 2000 Sky Publishing Corporation. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin
and Sky at a Glance stargazing calendar are provided as a service to
the astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine.
Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as these
paragraphs are included. But the text of the bulletin and calendar may
not be published in any other form without permission from Sky
Publishing (contact permissions@skypub.com or phone 617-864-7360).
Updates of astronomical news, including active links to related
Internet resources, are available via SKY & TELESCOPE's site on the
World Wide Web at http://www.skypub.com/.
=====================================================================

Back to ASTRONET's home page

Terug naar ASTRONET's home page