Moon Shadow

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON: Today dawned dark and grey and that was more depressing than usual. Why? Because tonight there will be a lunar event of remarkable rarity - and we're afraid we won't get to see it!

How rare is tonight's event? Well, Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years and since year 1, he said, "I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21." And having a full lunar eclipse on the date winter solstice won't happen again until Dec. 21, 2094. I'd say that's a pretty big deal. That's why we spent over an hour this a.m. talking about it.

But before our talk, I spent a good hour mining resources. I really wanted something dynamic to help them "see" what a lunar eclipse looks like. Reading about it is fine, but visuals help drive the point home.

Fortunatley, I found the Shadow and Substance Web site, which says its aim is to display popular astronomy both visually and entertainingly. There, we found a really cool animation which I used repeatedly today as we talked about about what a lunar eclipse is.

We also rounded up our own visual aids. I had the kids get their globe, and then a rather rotund squeaky toy frog served as our moon and we used a floor lamp as our sun. Via these primative props, the kids learned just how a lunar ecipse occurs.

We talked about how the Moon orbits Earth every 29.5 days, and the Earth orbits the sun every 365 days and that a lunar eclipse is when Earth blocks direct sunlight from the moon.

We talked about why there isn't a lunar eclipses every month during a full moon. For an answer, we turned to Mr. Eclipse, who said, "I'm glad you asked! You see, the Moon's orbit around Earth is actually tipped about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. This means that the Moon spends most of the time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit. And the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun is important because Earth's shadows lie exactly in the same plane. During Full Moon, our natural satellite usually passes above or below Earth's shadows and misses them entirely. No eclipse takes place. But two to four times each year, the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's penumbral or umbral shadows," and an eclipse occurs. (image from NASA)
We learned that when an eclipse of the moon takes place, everyone on the night side of Earth can see it. About 35% of all eclipses are of the penumbral type, which are very difficult to detect, even with a telescope. Another 30% are partial eclipses which are easy to see with the unaided eye. The final 35% or so are total eclipses, and these are quite extraordinary events to behold (like tonight's eclipse, cloud cover permitting!).

I love the fact that after today my kids know what 'penumbral' and 'umbral' mean in reference to a lunar eclipse. :) And we also learned that the moon is rust-colored during a lunar eclipse because of matter or debris in the Earth's atmosphere. Fascinating.

CHRISTMAS AT THE CENTER: Christian and I have decided to make visiting Atomic Santa atop the Space Needle the annual tradition for CeeJ and Bee, and we decided today was the day. The kids and I went to the Center early.

We left home at 2:10, parked for free several blocks away and speed-walked to the Center House. By the time we got there it was 2:28. With "normal" (translation = not ours) schools on winter break, the Winter Fest at Seattle Center has ramped up their WinterFest entertainment schedule. Case in point, a pair of magicians, Budd and Durgin - was appear on the stage in the Seattle Center (food) court at 2:30 today. The place was packed.

We found a spot on a little landing stage left. The first magician, Durgin, was funny and skilled, but he mumbled. It was hard to understand him. The second magician, Budd, was funny and skilled and I was enjoying the show until I wound up being part of it.
For you see, for a few of his tricks he needed an assistant from the crowd. In those instances, about 200 (mostly kids) hands went up. However, for one trick he needed an adult's help and (unfortunately) he wasn't asking for volunteers. Being the pro he is, he chose the most convenient female adult. And MOST unfortunately, that would be ME, hard stage left. OMG, I was MORTIFIED when he asked me to come on stage. I can't imagine anyone being LESS happy to be featured in production than me, but fortunately for Magician Budd, I am also totally someone who understands the need to Git 'er Done in live time. And so I went. I had the distinct displeasure of fitting Mr. Budd in a straight jacket (including an awkward strap that ran between his legs. (Out of mic's range, I told him I felt like a TSA agent.) And since he was in straight jacket, I had to hold his mic for him while he was escaping it.

After the show we moseyed over to the Space Needle and took the 45 second ride up to the Observation Deck where Santa was waiting for us. There were cool Christmas decorations all around.
The coolest of all was Santa's retro rocket!
It was funny listening to the kids tell Santa what they wanted - and where he could find it. CJ pointed Santa to an action figure on eBay, while Annabelle told him about an accordion at Value Village.
We, of course, walked the entire outside deck of the Space Needle to enjoy views from every direction.
We stayed through sunset in order to appreciate the city changing from daylight to night time.
The kids always enjoy the interactive displays at the Space Needle, and they have added a few new ones since our visit last Christmas.
We made our trip down the elevator and exited the Needle. I darn near forgot to look up at it when we were at its base. Glad I remembered at the last second - it's such a cool vantage point. The grounds of Seattle Center were decked out for the holiday, too. All in all, it was a really wonderful afternoon and evening. Merry Christmas to MPA. :)