Upcoming Lunar eclipse & brisbane meet

[Magicdirt]

If any body is interested there is an upcoming lunar eclipse that coincides with summer solstice in the southern hemisphere. In Australia it is going to happen on Tuesday the 21st December.

Any eclipse is rare and this year the northern hemisphere had one coinciding with their summer solstice and now we have one coming too. This must be extremely rare for both hemispheres to have an eclipse coinciding with their summer solstice in one calendar year.

The northern hemisphere is also experiencing it's annual Geminid meteor shower now and could still be at the time, it could make for an awesome spectacle in the northern hemisphere.

All sorts of weird stuff happens at the time of an eclipse or even just a full moon, I wonder what this one will bring.

The Tibetans have a strong reliance on astrology for their day to day lives and eclipses are very important and said to affect psychic abilities and consciousness in general.

I can't wait to see what sort dreams I have around this time.

It would be a good time for meditation as well.

[Sheather]

Thanks for the heads up Magicdirt. I plan on looking in to this more now

[bℓσωηG]

ooh... i better get my cage and shackles dusted off!

[Bert&Ernie]

Ooo i cant wait for this i hope i have my hbwr seeds for this any one know what time of the day the eclipse is?

[herbal_hindsight]

awesome thanks for sharing that with us magic dirt what time its gonna happen is a great question but im also curious as to what part of australia it will be visible from?

im in south australia myself... will i be able to see it?

exciting stuff!

and that reminds me that isn't there some amazingly rare thing going to happen next year that only happens every few thousand years or something and will only be visible in the northern part of australia [ cairns]

i remember vaguely hearing something about that at the 2009 ega but my memory is shocking at the best of times!

[tripsis]

Where abouts in Australia will it be seen?

[herbal_hindsight]

For Australians and New Zealanders, the eclipse will be in progress during Moon rise (after sunset on the 21st December). Generally, the further East you are, the more of the eclipse you'll see. The further west you are in Australia, more of the eclipse will be finished by the time the moon rises for you.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-608-0-0-1-0.html

[Magicdirt]

awesome thanks for sharing that with us magic dirt what time its gonna happen is a great question but im also curious as to what part of australia it will be visible from?

im in south australia myself... will i be able to see it?

exciting stuff!

and that reminds me that isn't there some amazingly rare thing going to happen next year that only happens every few thousand years or something and will only be visible in the northern part of australia [ cairns]

i remember vaguely hearing something about that at the 2009 ega but my memory is shocking at the best of times!

 

I did hear some talk of a rare planetary alignment in December 2011 I don't know if that's what you heard of.

Then in 2012 there is an alignment of sun with the dark rift in the centre of the milky way.

It's all tied in with the precession of the equinoxes and has according to some been predicted in the Mayan long count calendar, some say it will it will cause pole reversals and feild polarity changes and possibly destruction for the earths inhabitants, others say it will usher in a new age of awareness and change our consciousness.

Interesting times to live in for sure.

[Slybacon]

[ThunderIdeal]

awesome thanks for sharing that with us magic dirt what time its gonna happen is a great question but im also curious as to what part of australia it will be visible from?

im in south australia myself... will i be able to see it?

exciting stuff!

and that reminds me that isn't there some amazingly rare thing going to happen next year that only happens every few thousand years or something and will only be visible in the northern part of australia [ cairns]

i remember vaguely hearing something about that at the 2009 ega but my memory is shocking at the best of times!

 

cairns and darwin are due to cop a full solar eclipse in a year's time

pretty rare (i've never seen one, have you?) but i'm not aware of anything super rare about it.

i'd love to see it. it seems like an extraordinary thing to witness and be a part of.

i've never seen a full lunar eclipse let alone full solar, and with solar activity ramping up and doing weird things, who knows, maybe the corona will look extra-special.

[tripsis]

I was fortunate enough to experience a full lunar eclipse on my 15th birthday. Was pretty amazing.

[synchromesh]

Mayan Calendar's Doomsday Date May Be Off by 50 to 100 years, Research Shows

[planthelper]

cairns and darwin are due to cop a full solar eclipse in a year's time

pretty rare (i've never seen one, have you?) but i'm not aware of anything super rare about it.

i'd love to see it. it seems like an extraordinary thing to witness and be a part of.

i've never seen a full lunar eclipse let alone full solar, and with solar activity ramping up and doing weird things, who knows, maybe the corona will look extra-special.

 

i saw one total solar eclipse, the 99 in austria, totaly worth it!!!

i saw a leonid maximum, shooting stars falling from the sky like snow flakes (very rare, waited 40years for it!!!!)

thx for the notifications.

[ThunderIdeal]

this is for brisbane, you might find info for your city here http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/moonrise.html

this seems to say that eart-north-east is where the moon will rise on that night in brisbane, the eclipse will already be well in progress so i want to make sure i have a clear view of the horizon in that direction.

Date 21 Dec 2010

Moonrise 6:40 PM

Moonset 4:19 AM

Phase Full at 6:13 PM

MERIDIAN PASSING

Time- 11:59 PM

Altitude 39.1°

Distance(km375,621

Illuminated 99.9%

AZIMUTH

rising

63°East-northeast

setting298°West-northwest

[ThunderIdeal]

BRISBANE VIEWING

even though from my place i will be able to see the moon as soon as it appears on the horizon, i'm about to take a compass to a mountain location with even better views and confirm a clear north-east-north view to the bay. that way more of the eclipse is seen.

if anyone wants to make a journey about one hour west of the CBD and watch it with me, raise your hand.

i'll provide binoculars (not that they will improve the experience much), mozzie repellant, and stuff.

[ThunderIdeal]

ok we just have to hope for clear skies. i'll be there regardless, but you won't know where there is unless you ask me. the view looks good although there is a eucalypt branch looking east north east, but the moon will be visible through it, and after it rises a little it should be all good.

the place i have in mind is spectacular. there is also the possibility of a 1.5km circuit through the bush if anyone is keen and arrives early enough.

there are toilets, bbqs, picnic tables and there is limited shelter although if it rains and there are many other people there, that shelter will be pretty cramped. the water there is not for drinking.

[Sheather]

BRISBANE VIEWING

even though from my place i will be able to see the moon as soon as it appears on the horizon, i'm about to take a compass to a mountain location with even better views and confirm a clear north-east-north view to the bay. that way more of the eclipse is seen.

if anyone wants to make a journey about one hour west of the CBD and watch it with me, raise your hand.

i'll provide binoculars (not that they will improve the experience much), mozzie repellant, and stuff.

I'd like to come. Finally get to meet someone from this community

West of the CBD, what suburb? I'd be catching public transport or riding the ol' pushbike so accessibility is my main issue.

Looking forward to it. Although it is the night before I go to Sydney, may not be the best idea...

EDIT: Also that mayan calendar thing was never a prediction of the end of the world, just the end of a cycle was it? (I don't recall exactly what) It was meant to be a change for the positive wasn't it?

Edited December 18, 2010 by Sheather

[ThunderIdeal]

nobody really knows about the mayan end date. personally i think there's more to ancient civilisations than we really comprehend, i'm sure many of you think the same.

i think you'd really need to catch a lift with somebody. i could drive you to the site after work but not back to civilisation. if nobody else can take you back to brisbane, we could bring your pushbike up too and it's downhill most of the way to the closest bus stop (can you take a bike on a bus?)

keep in mind a lunar eclipse is not very exciting nor does it happen quickly, it's something to appreciate over a long period of time. it might not be worth the trouble if you are traveling the next day.

[Sheather]

Yeah, I understand that. I think you can take a bike on a bus. Have never tried it though. Probably a good idea to just chill out at home and watch it from here.

[OpticalLight]

I'd like to come. Finally get to meet someone from this community

West of the CBD, what suburb? I'd be catching public transport or riding the ol' pushbike so accessibility is my main issue.

Looking forward to it. Although it is the night before I go to Sydney, may not be the best idea...

EDIT: Also that mayan calendar thing was never a prediction of the end of the world, just the end of a cycle was it? (I don't recall exactly what) It was meant to be a change for the positive wasn't it?

 

nobody really knows about the mayan end date. personally i think there's more to ancient civilisations than we really comprehend, i'm sure many of you think the same.

i think you'd really need to catch a lift with somebody. i could drive you to the site after work but not back to civilisation. if nobody else can take you back to brisbane, we could bring your pushbike up too and it's downhill most of the way to the closest bus stop (can you take a bike on a bus?)

keep in mind a lunar eclipse is not very exciting nor does it happen quickly, it's something to appreciate over a long period of time. it might not be worth the trouble if you are traveling the next day.

 

Uhhh would offer you a lift Sheather as I would like to go too, but my car broke down last Thursday evening in Ryde. I was on my way to drive back to Brisbane when the coolant level/temperature warning light started blinking madly. I was on a main road in heavy traffic in the furtherest right hand lane so I couldn't pull over easily, so the car started smoking from under the bonnet...

I managed to turn off and pull over in a side rd, then a couple of hours later my car got towed to a repairers. Guess I'm lucky it happened near the heart of Sydney, rather than say two hours north of Sydney. My car was full of luggage though which was a pain to recover the next day, by public transport.

Anywho, I got a plane back to Brisbane last Friday; and I have access to a manual car here... however I don't have my manual license. So if you have an open manual license I can whack on the L-plates and drive us there.

I'm actually heading back to Sydney this Wednesday aswell - racq are putting me on a train/coach to go pick up my car when the repairs should be complete. Then I'll be driving it back to Brisbane just before Christmas. phew!

[Sheather]

I'm afraid I only have my L's myself. Thank you very much for the offer though. I think instead I will just invite a few people to mine and chill out on a lookout in the forest.

Good luck with the repairs and all that travel! Sounds tiresome.

[OpticalLight]

No wurries, it's probably a good idea not to do anything too strenuous before I travel. Thanking you, I'll probably be downing the caffeine when I do start driving -> it's the only time I drink coffee. Weather is beaudiful this morning!

[planthelper]

if you are lucky and the skies are clear, watch out for what is called the copper red moon.

the moon does not get totaly dark, you know why?

because if i remeber correctly, the moon is full, and shines his full light onto earth, this lightens up the earth a bit ( full moon means new earth if viewed from the moon), and this light goes back to the moon, which gets a bit iluminated with a reddish hue.

parts of this copper red moon feature, one can observe everytime one views a very cresent moon.

did you ever notice that a very cresent moon is not completly dark on the dark side?

thats because if there is a new moon, observers from the moon would see a full earth, and this full earth shines quite a lot of light onto the even dark moon (earth light).

[ThunderIdeal]

no time to make sense of that but i'll ponder it on my way out there! today was an exceedingly clear day so hopefully that hasn't changed.

[planthelper]

i managed to observed the last parts of the eclipse,

at my location, i could aswell spot a left moon dog 22 deg. (a halo caused by ice crystals).

jupiter was high up in the syk, and one could only spot two of it gallileien moons, with the binoculars.