The first TLE visible from Ireland for several years will occur on 28 September, but in the early hours of the morning! The moon will be in Pisces, and quite high up for all the main stages of the event.
The moon enters the faint outer part of the Earth's shadow, the penumbra, at 01.12 BST, and leaves it at 06.24. This stage is barely noticeable unless you look for it. The main, or umbral, phase lasts from 02.27 to 05.27, and that's the part where the eclipse is noticeable. The total phase, when the Moon is entirely within the Earth's shadow, lasts from 03.11 to 04.23. Maximum eclipse occurs at 03h 46m.
The moon will pass south of the centre of the Earth's shadow, so the S side of the Moon will probably be a bit less dark than the N side.
The moon never disappears completely, even in the middle of a long duration total eclipse, because the Earth's atmosphere acts as a lens, and bends some sunlight onto the Moon. And because it preferentially transmits more red light than blue, the Moon turns a colour ranging from dark orange to deep red, depending on the amount of dust and aerosol particles in our upper atmosphere.
SUPERMOON: This will be a notable eclipse for another reason – it occurs just after the closest lunar perigee of the year, on Sep 28, at 02.45, distance 356,877km. That means that the Moon will be larger than usual, with an apparent diameter of 33' 44". So there will be what the media call a 'Supermoon'.
And the Full Moon nearest to the autumn equinox is also called the Harvest Moon, so it's a Triple Whammy: a SuperMoon and Harvest Moon and TLE!
http://youtu.be/j7RMmitoex0 and
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2015/22sep_lunareclipse/
for some other angles on this.
Photography: You can image the eclipse with almost any camera, but you'll need a zoom or telephoto lens to get a good sized image. During totality you'll need to give exposures of at least a second, maybe up to 10 seconds, so you'll need a tripod.
Bill Ingalls of NASA has a good guide. See http://spacecoastdaily.com/2015/09/nasa-photography-tips-for-sundays-supermoon-from-professional-nasa-photographer/
The Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse darkness. L=0: Very dark eclipse. Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality. L=1: Dark eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration. Details distinguishable only with difficulty. L=2: Deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright. L=3: Brick-red eclipse. Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim. L=4: Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse. Umbral shadow is bluish and has a very bright rim.
Summary: Astronomy is the oldest science, with links stretching back more than 5,000 years to the construction of monuments such as Stonehenge and Newgrange, many of which contain remarkably precise astronomical orientations and alignments. This illustrated talk, which is linked to the Armagh Observatory's set of "From Earth To The Universe" (FETTU) posters, will take you on a journey in space and time from our Earth, through the Solar System, past nearby stars and our own Milky Way Galaxy, to the most distant parts of the known Universe until we reach the "Big Bang", the start of our known Universe some 14 billion years ago. The talk will also cover the work and recent discoveries of the Armagh Observatory; the principal components of our Solar System; and the sizes and relative distances of the planets and nearby stars.
10. Interesting Weblinks
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