[Paul123 (OP)]

I was watching the lunar eclipse last night and was wondering why the shadow of the earth started at the bottom of the moon and made its way up to the top. I was thinking that if there is to be a shadow on the moon surely it would appear to go across it rather than from top to bottom due to the geometry .
Obviously my logic is wrong, could somebody clear this up for me? Is it because the moons orbit around the Earth is slightly slanted?

[syhprum]

It all depends on your latitude, if you are near the equator it will start at the edge but if you are closer to the poles it will start at the top or bottom.
It is also affected by how exact the orbital line up is.

[neilep]

It was a well nice eclipse !!

[that mad man]

Yep, it was a good view.

After a while though I couldn't help feeling it was like watching paint dry and had to go inside.... []

TMM

[neilep]

Yep, it was a good view.

After a while though I couldn't help feeling it was like watching paint dry and had to go inside.... []

TMM

LOL........this is very true !!..

[Karen W.]

George told us about it, but I had already missed it! I did not know we were having one. The One I saw years ago was absolutely incredible with a pair of night vision binoculars.. Blood red and so gorgeous!

[Paul123 (OP)]

Thanks for your comments. I didn't know about the eclipse either, I just looked out of the window and thought I haven't seen that before []So I got the binoculars to have a closer look. 

[Karen W.]

Was it as pretty red as the last one I seen? Are they always red?? It looked dark without the binoculars, but with them you could see the swirly red and dark mixing like paint on a pallette!

[eric l]

I understand that the reddish moon is due to the earths atmosphere working as a lens that diffrachts red light more than blue, same reason realy while we see the sunset as red.

In Belgium we have a yearly "dark night".  Light pollution is realy a problem here, but on that night the illumination of monuments is shut off.  This year they made it to coïncide with the eclipse, and the local amateur astronomes had put out their equipment in the market square, which on other nights is lighted like a football stadium.  So, I got a good deal of extra information from experts, and a question that remains unanswered so far (I'm not sure whether I should post it under physics or under physiology).

[@@]

 hello all im brand new on this site, but have been listening to the podcast for ages. any way had a great view from here in the midlands, , the moon seems to be much smaller and seems much much futher away.i enjoyed the view best at around 22.30 just before full eclipse a beautiful deep orange disc with a white cusp at the top.
couldnt believe the very favourable conditions, moon looked how id imagine mars to look if it where that much closer.
rare sites like that makes the guinness tase that much better

[neilep]

hello all im brand new on this site, but have been listening to the podcast for ages. any way had a great view from here in the midlands, , the moon seems to be much smaller and seems much much futher away.i enjoyed the view best at around 22.30 just before full eclipse a beautiful deep orange disc with a white cusp at the top.
couldnt believe the very favourable conditions, moon looked how id imagine mars to look if it where that much closer.
rare sites like that makes the guinness tase that much better

WELCOME @@..........luff the username !!..YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!

[Karen W.]

WELCOME @@

[@@]

hello hello

[Paul123 (OP)]

Hey, I'm new to this forum too, that makes two of us.  [] I've been listening to the podcast for about a year now and decided to check this forum out when it was mentioned on the podcast recently.

[paul.fr]

Hey, I'm new to this forum too, that makes two of us.  [] I've been listening to the podcast for about a year now and decided to check this forum out when it was mentioned on the podcast recently.

Hi Paul, paul here....oh it could get confusing

and what do you think of it so far?

[Paul123 (OP)]

Hey paul! It's great just like the podcast. Lots of discussions about interesting science-based topics- I love it!

[Karen W.]

OHHH TWO Pauls.. could be tricky..LOL

[paul.fr]

OHHH TWO Pauls.. could be tricky..LOL

Yes the tall, dark, handsome, intelligent and debonair one.....and me

[Karen W.]

 LOL No worries paul, I think I can keep you both straight eh? LOL I will either say Paul or 123 OK! LOL

[eric l]

I was watching the lunar eclipse last night and was wondering why the shadow of the earth started at the bottom of the moon and made its way up to the top. I was thinking that if there is to be a shadow on the moon surely it would appear to go across it rather than from top to bottom due to the geometry .
Obviously my logic is wrong, could somebody clear this up for me? Is it because the moons orbit around the Earth is slightly slanted?

The plane of the moon's orbit around the Earth is not the same as the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the eccleptical plane).  The angle is not that great (about 5° average, and varrying slightly).
Over here in Belgium, we saw the eclipse starting at something like 7 or 8 o'clock (if you look at the Moon as a clock dial), and slowly taking over the whole circle.  This may have been different for other locations.
There are planetarium simulation programs for the computer which allow to look at the sky from any location, on any day or hour you would like, but I haven't take the time yet to watch from say South Africa or the US.