Thursday 8 December 2011

Most of Westerm Canada can see the "impossible" during Saturday morning's lunar eclipse.

Big apology:  This was posted earlier with "Sunday" instead of "Saturday" and a link that didn't work.

The moon passes through the southern part of the Earth's shadow with totality beginning 6:06 a.m.PST  Saturday, lasting 51 minutes. Everyone could see the eclipse but people in Western Canada may see more. While the moon to the west is hidden in shadow from the sun, for a few minutes to the east you can see that same sun shining above the horizon. This impossibility is possible because refraction will make the sun appear above the horizon before it actually gets there. The technical name: selenehelion.  The prospects of you actually seeing this are pretty good providing you get out of bed.. The all-Canada forecast shows full sun or partial sun at least on the prairies..



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