Well, I almost let one get by unnoticed. And it is a big one.
This evening, in just a few hours, those of us in the northern hemisphere are going to be treated to a double feature. Remember those Saturday afternoon movies at the neighborhood theater (the Victor in my case) where you would get a feature film and a B grade movie?
Well, the double billing is back.
Tonight we are going to have a super moon. I have written about them before. The last time was during a visit to Bend when my mother was assaulted while we waited to watch the moon rose (COPS comes to bend).
In my opinion (and it is not very humble), super moons are just another of those semi-interesting phenomena that are heliumed by the popular press. At best, the moon will be 14 percent brighter than a normal full moon -- due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth.
What is a big deal is a full lunar eclipse. Tied together with a super moon, it will be as if God has pumped up the entertainment lighting for the evening, and then cut it back with Earth's shadow on the face of the moon -- leaving what will look like a rather tasty caramel effect. (Others call it bloody. I will stick with my dessert metaphor.)
For those of us in the central time zone in Mexico (and that is most), the eclipse will start at 8:00 PM and run through 11:30. The full eclipse should appear (or disappear) around 9:32 PM.
Swollen foot or not (and it managed to plump up like a Ball Park Frank on he grill yesterday), I will be out there to watch the show.
Whenever I publish one of these astronomy essays, someone (or two or three) will ask where in the sky to look to see the show. I think this one will be quite apparent. Even during the total eclipse.
Here's looking with you, kid!
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