It's not unusual for a college student to pull an all-nighter, but for me, waking up at 3 a.m. is something I usually reserve for house fires or Christmas morning.
Tuesday morning was different, however, as I joined residents across the South Plains to witness a total lunar eclipse in the Southwest sky.
Armed with a sleeping bag, some hot coffee and a friend brave enough to willingly get out of bed at 4 a.m., I watched the event from Urbanovsky Park under a clear sky. A cool breeze and the fear of being soaked by the park's irrigation system kept me awake as I watched the shadow of the Earth slowly cover the moon in darkness.
Though not an incredibly rare phenomenon, Tuesday's eclipse was one of only eight total lunar eclipses to take place since 2000. Most cities east of Lubbock were unable to get a view of the full eclipse because of the rotation of the Earth, but according to NASA's Web site, www.nasa.gov, spectators on the West coast of the United States got the best view of the event. By 4:52 a.m., I watched as the moon was covered completely in shadow and beginning to reflect a red tint.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the surface of the moon. Areas on the planet able to get a full view of the event see the moon change gradually in color from black to a deep red. A full moon is required for a total eclipse.
Susan Holtz, an instructor in the physics department at Texas Tech, said the reddish coloration is caused by sunlight filtering through the rim of the Earth's atmosphere as it is cast onto the darkened moon.
"The bright rim around the earth is lit, where sunrises and sunsets are occurring, causing the red coloration of the moon during the eclipse," she said. "This light is from all the sunrises and all the sunsets that are occurring on the earth."
Though not her first eclipse, Holtz said Tuesday's event was phenomenally clear for viewing and photographing.
"It's one of the best we've had in the last five years from my viewing," she said.
Be the first to comment on this article!