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View Full Version : Space Lunar Eclipse.



Hexalan
2014-04-14, 11:42 PM
Full Lunar Eclipse tonight. It's supposed to visible here (eastern US) in about half in an hour. Full eclipse peaks at 3:50 Eastern.

Unfortunately, weather conditions here have made moon-watching rather difficult, but Space.com has a livestream of the eclipse (http://www.space.com/19195-night-sky-planets-asteroids-webcasts.html).

Huh? Huh? Who thinks this is cool?

TaiLiu
2014-04-14, 11:58 PM
I think it is cool!

AdmiralCheez
2014-04-15, 12:27 AM
I know I'm probably going to regret it tomorrow, but I'm planning on staying up to watch it. I've got my camera and tripod ready just in case I can get a good shot of it. Unfortunately, it's getting kind of cloudy, so it may end up being a bust.

On the other hand, if the glow from the moon causes the clouds to turn red, that might be cool too.

SiuiS
2014-04-15, 01:20 AM
I'm looking forward to it! Should be in about forty minutes for me though.

...

Or five minutes ago? I can never track daylight savings time...

factotum
2014-04-15, 01:34 AM
*Looks outside at blue sky and sunshine* Guessing I won't be seeing this... :smallwink:

Grek
2014-04-15, 02:09 AM
It is very beautiful.

AdmiralCheez
2014-04-15, 02:24 AM
Well, according to the streaming sites, the moon is now in the total eclipse phase, but where I live, we're in the total cloud phase. A bit of a letdown for me, but hopefully some other people got to see it. I guess I'll have to wait until the next one in October.

Arbane
2014-04-15, 03:23 AM
I got to see it - quite impressive. I'd've stayed out longer, but it's bloody cold here.

Lord Torath
2014-04-15, 07:30 AM
I got up to see it. Roughly 2 am for me. Pretty cool!

Max™
2014-04-15, 07:34 PM
I got to see... clouds.

Lord Torath
2014-04-16, 08:21 AM
Ah, that sucks. Well, you can see some of it at Bad Astronomy (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/04/15/lunar_eclipse_the_blood_moon_of_april_2014.html) (my favorite astronomy and general science blog).

Cikomyr
2014-04-16, 08:37 AM
Luna Eclipsed? It's one of my favourite MLP episode!

Hexalan
2014-04-16, 10:26 AM
Luna Eclipsed? It's one of my favourite MLP episode!

No.

NASA released this composite shot of the moon.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlTKTThCcAA-Fcg.jpg

ace rooster
2014-04-16, 12:25 PM
I feel it is my duty to exhibit a magnificent piece of ancient technology that is related. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Antikythera_mechanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism).

An anolog computer from around 100bc that was able to predict eclipses.

AdmiralCheez
2014-04-16, 05:19 PM
I've always wondered where we would be technologically if the ancient greek and roman civilizations hadn't collapsed. I mean, they had rudimentary steam engines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile) as far back as the first century AD. Combined with the analog computers, Ancient Greece was pretty much a steampunk society, almost two millennia before what we consider to be that era.

factotum
2014-04-17, 01:47 AM
I've always wondered where we would be technologically if the ancient greek and roman civilizations hadn't collapsed.

I'm not sure it would have made much difference. We've only ever found one Antikythera mechanism, for example, and considering the thing was made of metal you'd have thought more would have survived if they were commonplace things. As for the aeolopile, it wasn't really a practical steam engine in any sense of the word--you couldn't have used it to actually power anything. I see these things as like da Vinci's drawings of a helicopter--amazing inventions in their own right, but not things that would (or indeed *could*) bring about a large-scale technological revolution.

(Oh, one other thing to note: the Antikythera mechanism dates to around 100BC, which is three centuries after the fall of the classical Greek civilisation you're presumably referring to in your "hadn't collapsed" quote, so I don't think it was really affected by it as much as you think :smallsmile:).

AdmiralCheez
2014-04-17, 10:20 AM
I'm not sure it would have made much difference. We've only ever found one Antikythera mechanism, for example, and considering the thing was made of metal you'd have thought more would have survived if they were commonplace things. As for the aeolopile, it wasn't really a practical steam engine in any sense of the word--you couldn't have used it to actually power anything. I see these things as like da Vinci's drawings of a helicopter--amazing inventions in their own right, but not things that would (or indeed *could*) bring about a large-scale technological revolution.

Most prototype inventions aren't actually practical, and I see these more of a proof-of-concept device rather than a mass produced technology. Still, it's a shame that no one thought to take these ideas further into development.


(Oh, one other thing to note: the Antikythera mechanism dates to around 100BC, which is three centuries after the fall of the classical Greek civilisation you're presumably referring to in your "hadn't collapsed" quote, so I don't think it was really affected by it as much as you think :smallsmile:).

I wasn't entirely sure when the fall of those civilizations had occurred; looks like I was off by about 300 years. My mistake.

Ravens_cry
2014-04-17, 05:28 PM
Part of the trouble was the lack of communications tech. It's one thing for a genius inventor to make a one off thing, but getting other people to know about it could be much more difficult. It was found in a shipwreck, yet would have little use aboard a ship, so perhaps its inventor was taking it to show others. That could make an interesting alternate history, yes?