spacy moon/comet stuff

[Baron Bloom]

Moon, comet putting on a light show

Sky watchers in North America will get a double show this weekend as the
moon goes into partial eclipse and Comet Hale-Bopp shines longer and
brighter in the night sky.

Starting Sunday at 9:58 p.m. ET, the moon will start to drift into the
darkest part of Earth's shadow, slowly turning rusty red. By 11:39 p.m.,
more than 90% will be in shadow; just a thin crescent will be visible on the
upper left side.

The event should be visible throughout North America. Western Europe and
parts of Africa and the Middle East will see it the morning of March 24.

"What makes this special for most observers is that it's the last partial
eclipse that will be seen for several years," says Fred Espenak, an
astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

The next partial lunar eclipse won't come until July 1999 and will be
visible mostly in the western USA. But just 40% of the moon will be dark.
The next total eclipse comes in January 2000.

The color and density of Earth's shadow on the moon varies according to the
amount of volcanic activity on the planet. When volcanic ash is thick in the
atmosphere, Earth's shadow tends to be dark.

But because there is little ash in the atmosphere now, most of the moon will
appear reddish, with a bright top that resembles a polar ice cap.

Some observers point out that the moon will look the way Mars might appear -
polar ice cap and all - if that planet were just half a million miles away
from Earth. Mars is 48 million miles from Earth at its closest point.

Mars will be visible Sunday night as a bright orange dot to the upper right
of the moon. Mars will be separated from the moon by a little more than the
width of a fist at arm's length.

"A lunar eclipse is not of much scientific interest, but it is a beautiful
natural phenomenon," Espenak says. "It's a chance to just get out with the
kids and enjoy nature. And even if you're in the city with all the city
lights, you can still get a good view."

Comet Hale-Bopp, meanwhile, is growing brighter as its time on the celestial
stage shortens in the hours before dawn and lengthens in the hours after
sunset. It passes closest by Earth Saturday at 122 million miles; it will be
at its brightest from Monday to April 10.

Comet watchers on the West Coast, especially the Pacific Northwest, are in
for a bonus Sunday when the lunar eclipse will cleanse the sky of moonlight
right during prime comet-watching time. After dusk, the comet will be high
in the northwest section of the sky.

Hale-Bopp is about to pass through a region where solar wind turbulence will
cause it to lose part of its curved, bluish tail of electrically charged
gases. It will still have its yellowish dust tail.

"The tail might start acting up," says Steve Maran, spokesman for the
American Astronomical Society. "You might see the tail break off, but the
comet will grow a new one."

          spacy at teleport.com (Baron Bloom)

updated...        http://www.teleport.com/~spacy/