Tonight there was a total lunar eclipse. I have never took the time to observe an eclipse before, so being able to watch this one happen through a telescope was amazing. At 7:15 the eclipse could already be seen as a sliver of brown creeping across the moon, from the lower left corner. When I left campus around 8:15, nearly a quarter of the moon was in shadow. I continued to observe the eclipse from home with my family. By 9:30 pm the entire moon was a brownish color. From the research I did before class I learned that the full moon was in the constellation of Leo, with the brightest star being Regulus. Regulus, Saturn and the Moon would form a triangle.
Also tonight I was able to view Saturn using the telescope on campus. It was at the 8 o'clock position to the moon in the south east sky around 7pm. Through the telescope I could see the rings of Saturn, which we learned would not be visible soon due to Saturn tilting on its axis and the rings appearing edge-on. The following web site has a demonstration of Saturn tilting: http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/SaturnsDisappearingRings/aringRings/ .
Also tonight I was able to view Saturn using the telescope on campus. It was at the 8 o'clock position to the moon in the south east sky around 7pm. Through the telescope I could see the rings of Saturn, which we learned would not be visible soon due to Saturn tilting on its axis and the rings appearing edge-on. The following web site has a demonstration of Saturn tilting: http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/SaturnsDisappearingRings/aringRings/ .
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