Overnight, between July 4 and July 5, the Earth will cast a "shadow" on the Moon. On the east coast of the US, it will occur between 11 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday, with the maximum eclipse occurring at around 12:30 a.m. EST.
Key Message: Don't lose any sleep over this one.
Why?: Earth is presently at its farthest distance from the sun, in its annual orbit. As you are likely to know from making scary shadows on a wall, the closer you are to the light, the bigger your shadow. Well, Earth is too far away from the light (the sun) to cast a noticeable shadow on the Moon this weekend. If you look up at "maximum", you will see...probably an ordinary moon, or maybe slightly grayer. This happens because Earth's atmosphere makes its shadow fuzzy, and also transmits and curves light toward the center of its own shadow. Result: not much to see here, folks. Move along.
On the Other Hand: If you do just have to look up, you will be able to easily identify both Jupiter and Saturn in the southeast, shortly after nightfall, since they will be close to that ordinary looking Moon. Here are their positions for 3 consecutive nights:
Bob
Key Message: Don't lose any sleep over this one.
Why?: Earth is presently at its farthest distance from the sun, in its annual orbit. As you are likely to know from making scary shadows on a wall, the closer you are to the light, the bigger your shadow. Well, Earth is too far away from the light (the sun) to cast a noticeable shadow on the Moon this weekend. If you look up at "maximum", you will see...probably an ordinary moon, or maybe slightly grayer. This happens because Earth's atmosphere makes its shadow fuzzy, and also transmits and curves light toward the center of its own shadow. Result: not much to see here, folks. Move along.
On the Other Hand: If you do just have to look up, you will be able to easily identify both Jupiter and Saturn in the southeast, shortly after nightfall, since they will be close to that ordinary looking Moon. Here are their positions for 3 consecutive nights:
Bob
