Project Goal: To observe an eclipse of the Moon.
What you Need for This Project
To do this project you will have to be able to view the movie clip included with this project. All Macs come with a version of QuickTime and computers running Windows have a movie viewer called Media Player. The movie clip should play using either type of computer or player.
If your computer does not have QuickTime movie viewer installed you can download the Macintosh or Windows version from the internet by clicking on QuickTime. Also, an installable version of QuickTime is included on the StarryNight CD program disk.
Start the movie and watch as the inner planets as they orbit the Sun. Drag the horizontal scroll box to the left to rewind to the first frame of the movie. Clicking once to the right of the scroll box will advance to the next time frame. Alternately, if you are using a QuickTime viewer, you can click the right arrow at the end of the scroll bar. Each click advances one time frame forward. The left arrow allows you to step backward in time.
What You Need to Know for This Project
For a discussion of lunar eclipses see Voyage 7..
To start the project click Lunar Eclipse 16 July 2000 .
Print or copy the Project Results Form on which to record you answers and hand it in to your instructor.
Results Form
Name____________________ Student Number__________ Class ______________
Date ____________________
Based on your observations:
Longitude_________(W, E) Latitude ___________(N, S)
Date_____________
1. Type of lunar eclipse____________
Moon entered
Penumbra at __________ (AM, PM)
Umbra at _____________ (AM, PM)
Mid Eclipse Time____________ (AM, PM)
Moon Left
Umbra at _____________ (AM, PM)
Penumbra at ___________ (AM, PM)
2. About how long was part or all of the Moon in the Earth’s shadow regions?
3. About how long was part or all of the Moon in the Umbra?
4. Recalling that the apparent size of the Moon is one-half a degree, estimate the diameter of the umbra and penumbra in degrees.
(1) Angular size of umbra______________
(2) Angular size of penumbra___________
5. The Moon moves eastward about one-half a degree per hour. If the Moon passed directly through the center of the Earth’s shadow, how long would the Moon remain completely in the umbra? In the penumbra?
(1) Time in umbra__________
(2) Time in penumbra____________