h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The total moon eclipse in the night of March 3 - 4 2007 (shadow of our planet covers the complete moon at our side) lasts for over one hour.
It begins at 22:43:49 UT on March 3 and ends at 23:58:01 UT on March 3, with the moment of greatest eclipse at 23:20:56 UT on March 3.

It is visible over most of Asia, Europe and Africa, South America, and eastern North America.

The total eclipse should be a spectacular sight; the Moon will be well within the Earth's shadow, the umbral magnitude being 1.238, and should be deeply coloured by the Earth's atmosphere.

See for yourself; http://spaceweather.com/

and for a lunar eclipse animation see;

http://www.syz.com/DU/mac/animations/lunareclipse.html

And click down under to start animation.


Greetings from Amsterdam !

Here is a quesdtion thats been bothering me for some time. Does the leading edge of the shadow exceed the speed of light as it is viewed further and further into space? Or is it a no no?

As far as I know, nothing can exceed the speed of light, ónly at h2g2..

Thanks for that, but as the shadow is an absecnce of light will it not still exist even if it can not be experienced?

Well, light that hits the earth,will return into the open space of our solar system.

That's why we can see the planets = reflected sunlight hitting the planets.