don't forget to go outside tonight

[turbodawg]

There's what's supposed to be a pretty good total lunar eclipse going on this evening.

Here's an article from the NewsStar:

(an aside: did anybody else have Witriol for physics??? That dude rules! "Giant ants here I am! Come and get me!")

Clouds may obscure moon's light show tonight
Leesha Faulkner / Education Editor
Posted on May 15, 2003

In ancient times, people feared a lunar eclipse.

Tonight, provided the clouds break, we'll view the first lunar eclipse of the 21st century. The National Weather Service forecast calls for partly cloudy skies.

Norman Witriol, a professor of physics at Louisiana Tech University, will stand in his back yard and enjoy the event. The New York native who also teaches astronomy at Tech has enjoyed stellar events since his childhood.

In those early days, Witriol said, he had to learn about the stars, moon and planets by visiting the planetarium. The lights of New York made skywatching too difficult. Only when he ventured outside the city could he witness the full splendor of the night sky.

The sky still thrills him, and the prospect of a lunar eclipse has Witriol looking forward to stepping outside his Ruston home around 8:45 p.m. "It's a very pretty event," he said.

An eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow. If you watch, it's likely you'll see the shadow of the Earth on the moon, Witriol said. "You can see the curvature of the Earth," he said.

The moon appears to go dark, as though swallowed by the sky. "It used to scare the ancients," Witriol said.

And, from the darkness comes an eerie light. As the eclipse occurs, the moon will appear as orange-red or deep dark red. Then, the moon moves through the shadow and emerges.

Watching the eclipse doesn't require a lot of equipment. It happens during a full moon, making the event easy to see with the naked eye, although binoculars or a telescope enhances the viewing.

J.B. Dunn, who teaches physics, geometry and calculus at Richwood High School and is an instructor at Delta Community College, and others plan to view the eclipse from the parking lot of Books-a-Million in Monroe.

Dunn said light pollution from the city might dim one's view a bit, but it's still worth coming out to see the event. The group will set up a telescope and have binoculars handy, beginning about 7 p.m. The eclipse is expected to end around 11 p.m.

If you don't do it tonight, it'll be another 18 years and about 11 days before the next lunar eclipse occurs.*

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*I'm pretty sure there's another total lunar eclipse that's viewable in N. America this fall, for what that's worth.

[Champ967]

I had Witriol! I even too his intro Astronomy class. He was a bit of a "space cadet." (But I mean that in a good way).

[AustinDawg]

The only "F" I ever got in college was in Witriol's Physics I class. That dude operated on a different plane from me, and his lectures were no different. I worked my butt off for that "F".

Strange bird, to say the least. Made Stephen Hawking look like Arnold Swartzenegger.