Lunar eclipse eclipses expectations, lunacy returns Dec 10

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 16 June 2011 13:07

Your IT - Entertainment

Australia had plenty of moon units gazing up at Earth's major orbiter early this morning, as a red, dead moondemption eclipsed the threat of ash - but wasn't able to overcome view-marring cloudy weather for some.

The moon this June eclipsed to a mainly reddish tune, with those able to see the celestial event impressed by the awesome power of nature and the Universe.

While Australia's most celebrated moon-face, Bert Newton, didn't also make an appearance in the sky, those who saw this morning's eclipse were certainly awe star moonstruck.

Australia's Broadcasting Corporation published an article quoting residents of the Goulburn Murray region saying the lunar eclipse was 'spectacular, beautiful and awesome', with the region's early risers treated to the moon's looniest trick of all.

As announced all over the Internet, the eclipse took around 100 minutes, with the ABC's article stating that the moon 'was a coppery colour' which became a 'very dark brown' once it was 'fully eclipsed'.

The AAP's article from the Sydney Morning Herald stated that the best position to see the eclipse would have been from the moon itself, but no media outlet has yet been successful in getting a quote from 'the man in the moon' to see what he thought of the whole celestial shebang.

If you missed this morning's eclipse, however, you won't have to wait for years or decades to see one again.

The next lunar eclipse is due on the 10th of December, 2011, but as the ABC's article points out, 'it won't be as dark', with a totality of only 51 minutes, instead of this morning's 100-minute extravaganza.

Thankfully, in the modern era, we don't look at eclipses as portents of doom from the Gods, but instead as simply part of the way the universe and our solar system works.