JapanForum.com  


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
(#1 (permalink))
Old
GreyWolf (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 23
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Gleaston, England
Send a message via Skype™ to GreyWolf
Lunar eclipse - 06-26-2010, 09:34 AM

A pretty good lunar eclipse should be visable in Japan, parts of Asia(at moonrise) and the U.S.A. (at moonset) on Saturday 26th June. Apparently this will be seen low on the horizon and so should appear quite large. According to Nasa, low-hanging moons look "unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects". The reason for this is not understood.
Check it out folks and please report back as we won't be able to see this in England
Reply With Quote
(#2 (permalink))
Old
GoNative (Offline)
Busier Than Shinjuku Station
 
Posts: 1,063
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Inverloch, Australia
06-28-2010, 08:09 AM

The reason the moon appears larger near the horizon than at it's zenith is very well understood, it's simple optics. Near the horizon the light reflected off the moon must travel through more atmosphere to reach you the observer. The atmosphere acts like a lens. So when near the horizon more of the light reflected off the moon is refracted back to you the observer than when it is high in the sky and you can actually see more of the moon and it appears larger.
Reply With Quote
(#3 (permalink))
Old
GreyWolf (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 23
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Gleaston, England
Send a message via Skype™ to GreyWolf
06-28-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoNative View Post
The reason the moon appears larger near the horizon than at it's zenith is very well understood, it's simple optics. Near the horizon the light reflected off the moon must travel through more atmosphere to reach you the observer. The atmosphere acts like a lens. So when near the horizon more of the light reflected off the moon is refracted back to you the observer than when it is high in the sky and you can actually see more of the moon and it appears larger.
I pulled this info' off Yahoo news. The bit about the reason is not known refers to the moon appearing "unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects". As you point out the first bit about the moon being low on the horizon is well understood.
Thank you for your reply - did you see this eclipse, if so what was it like?
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




Copyright 2003-2006 Virtual Japan.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.0.0 RC6