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Subtle Lunar Eclipse

Today’s (Feb. 10) lunar activity comes in the form of a penumbral eclipse. What does that mean and how does this type differ from a total eclipse? Let’s take a look:

First off, what is a penumbra? During a lunar eclipse, two shadows are cast by the Earth. The first is called the umbra (UM bruh). This shadow gets smaller as it goes away from the Earth. It is the dark center of the eclipse shadow where the moon is completely in the shadow of the Earth.

The second shadow is called the penumbra (pe NUM bruh). The penumbra gets larger as it goes away from the Earth. The penumbra is the weak or pale part of the shadow. This occurs because the Earth is covering a portion of the sun.

Penumbral eclipses occur when only the outer shadow (the penumbra) of Earth falls on the moon’s surface. This type of eclipse is much more difficult to observe than total eclipses or when a portion of the moon passes into the umbra. That said, if you’re very observant, you may notice a dark shadow on the moon during mid-eclipse on Friday evening. You may not notice anything at all. It’s likely the moon will just look at little bit darker than normal…like this: 

Earth’s penumbral shadow forms a diverging cone that expands into space in the opposite direction of the sun. From within this zone, Earth blocks part but not the entire disk of the sun. Thus, some fraction of the sun’s direct rays continues to reach the most deeply eclipsed parts of the moon during a penumbral eclipse.

For most of North America, the penumbral eclipse will begin at moonrise (sunset) on Friday, Feb. 10 and will be obscured by evening light. Here’s a guide of when to look up:

Fun fact: Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) first proved that Earth was round using the curved umbral shadow seen at partial eclipses. In comparing observations of several eclipses, he noted that Earth’s shadow was round no matter where the eclipse took place. Aristotle correctly reasoned that only a sphere casts a round shadow from every angle.

To learn more about lunar eclipses, visit: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11828

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

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Jeebu forgive me, I hopped on the meme train.

Dos años con Lola #boxer

The Signs as Music Hoe Aesthetics

Aries: The slight rumbling you feel on the floor when you sit in front of the percussion

Taurus: the sound of the orchestra tuning, and you already feel your heart beating faster from a simple concert A

Gemini: The low chatter of anticipation from the audience before the performance

Cancer: Music torn at the edges with pencil writings scrawled all over the notes, a testament to somebody's time and passion

Leo: The feeling of playing a piece memorized; not just thinking about the notes but letting the music and your fingers work their magic

Virgo: The bright reflective lights on the keys of woodwinds and brass in the shining concert lights

Capricorn: When a person is so into the music that they start to dance and become a fluid structure, free and unbridled and emotional

Sagittarius: The feeling you get when you are in concert black with all of your friends, kind of like being a blurry smoke cloud in the night that moves together, breathes together, and performs together

Scorpio: when the string players are so into their music that their bow hairs start to fray and unravel and it's a mess of blurry lines moving like liquid silver

Libra: the conductor's arms, especially in staccato/scherzo moments, where movement is light and graceful and just there, showing its presence but not forcing it on

Aquarius: The adrenaline rush of playing a solo in a piece and the honor of standing up after it ends, where you have those few seconds just for you and only you

Pisces: The last note ringing around the air and the heavy, almost tangible silence which occurs for a microsecond afterwards

Entre más arriba estas, más lento corre el tiempo.

Querrás bajar, pero ya todo habrá cambiado.

Not coffee. No day.