Image analysis of images received from overseas : see the Measurements of umbral geometry
Tim Cooper, Bredell Observatory South Africa
Herewith my timings for the 2001 January 9 TLE. All times hh.mmss UT. (These crater timings have been re-analysed see Table 1 and Table 2).
Hoping to have Jim Knight's data by tomorrow.
JAS have observed the total lunar eclipse (09 January 2001), although it was expected to be a bright one, but it was not! The moon looked like a copper-brown disk! However, after the mid of the totality we could notice a bluish color! The blue color was barley visible by naked eyes, but very clear in the binoculars and telescopes.
Another important point to mention that is the Moon at totality before mid eclipse was MUCH dimmer than totality after mid eclipse. That is after the mid eclipse we could see its rim with a very bright white color, and it seems the Moon is not eclipsed at that part! More later.
More than 120 persons gathered to observe the total lunar eclipse at Haya Cultural Center. Where JAS had announced about an observing night in the mass media. A representative of Reuters and Associated Press and other agencies attended the observation, and some of them made interviews with JAS members.
Although it was expected to witness a bright eclipsed Moon, but actually the Moon during the totality phase was NOT as bright as expected! The 1997 eclipse was much brighter. We couldn't see an orange color during this eclipse. Where the Moon was almost copper-brown. In addition, the eclipse was NOT symmetric, where the the Moon was dimmer during totality before mid eclipse than it was after the mid eclipse. For example, when the Moon had just entered the umbra (at the beginning of the eclipse) we could easily notice that every part enters the umbra disappears, WHILE after the mid eclipse the part of the Moon which is nearer to the penumbra (but still inside the umbra) was VERY clear with white color. That is, it was difficult to be convinced that this part of the Moon is being eclipsed right now! Moreover, this part of the Moon (the rim) had a bluish color, which was barely visible by naked eyes, while it was very distinguishable by binoculars and telescopes.
Best Wishes
Moh'd
I watched the first eclipse of the new millennium from my home in Birmingham, England ñ 1 degree 57 minutes 31 seconds west longitude, 52 degrees 28 minutes 4 seconds north latitude, 177 metres elevation.
My earlier concerns regarding the weather proved unfounded and despite contradictory forecasts, my plans to become mobile and chase the eclipse were not needed. I was able to watch the whole thing from P1 to P4 in my back garden. Some high cirrus/ aircraft contrails were a nuisance early on but as the Moon climbed higher in the sky conditions improved tremendously.
The penumbral darkening on the Moon became visible earlier then I expected ñ a first clue that this eclipse was not going to be as bright as I had anticipated. I spent the time from U1 to U2 making some crater timings (to be sent separately) using a 30cm Newtonian telescope on a Dobsonian mount. I also attempted some photography with a 20cm SCT.
(As mentioned above) Totality proved darker then I anticipated. At 20:20 UT I removed my spectacles and looked at the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn to compare stellar magnitudes as advised by Roger W. Sinnottís article in the January S&T. Using the (variable star) Fractional method I made the following observation: -Jupiter (1) Moon (2) Saturn. The topmost part of the Moon was bright at mid-eclipse, while the southern part of the Moon was much darker. Iíd say that at mid-eclipse the lower part of the Moon would be 1.0 ñ 1.5 on the Danjon scale while the top part of the Moon would be 2.0 ñ 2.5. To the unaided eye it was somewhat reminiscent of Mars in a telescope (bright polar cap) but not so red. It reminded me of the December 1992 total lunar eclipse.
At 20:25 I observed an occultation of a star through my 30cm telescope followed, just seconds later, by the reappearance of another. As the eclipse moved towards U3, the Moon brightened appreciably and I made a Danjon estimate for the whole Moon of 2.0. The uneven distribution of the Moonís illumination was interesting with the (IAU) western side of the Moon being much brighter.
Since so many time-critical events are adversely effected by the weather in this country, I feel fortunate to have seen this memorable eclipse from my own back garden. (Between P1 and U1, Mir made a pass over my location. Since February 1986 there have been many eclipses while Mir has been in orbit. I felt a little sad watching the satellite during its final eclipse.)
The moon set here in Australia before it really began. I saw it only through heavy cloud before the moon set - see animation below, images taken before the cloud set in and well before first contact of the umbra. It may be possible to detect the penumbral shading ?
Picture 15
We are sending the timings of the immersions and emersions of lunar craters during the lunar eclipse January 9th, 2001. (These crater timings have been re-analysed see also Table 1 and Table 2).
The meteorological conditions were not good at the beginning. The shadow frontier was not so sharp in the first half and the there were greater
differences in contact timings than predicted, sometimes greater than 1 minute; therefore we are sending only those whose identification was
subjectively not doubted. We are sending the results from 4 observers: 3 observers were from Rimavská Sobota Observatory and 1 observer was from
Sobotite Observatory (Slovak Union of Amateur Astronomy (SZAA)). We hope that a majority of the results will be suitable for processing.