Total Lunar Eclipse

New York was graced with a beautiful view of a full lunar eclipse last night. It was the first full lunar eclipse which has been visible here in almost 3 years, and there won't be another one we can see until April 2014. Consequently, Columbia Astronomy Outreach held a viewing event in the middle of Columbia's campus in front of the Alma Mater statue for anyone who wanted to come catch a glimpse.

The weather was clear but cold and windy (with windchill it reached 12F) last night. Our event was set to last from 1:30AM until 4:00AM, but there were already people present when we started setting up at 1:10AM. We set up several telescopes and binoculars for public use. We had one automated telescope and CCD combination to take images of the eclipse as it occurred. We also had a table with lots of hot cocoa and NASA swag (posters, bookmarks and the like) for anyone to take. Our volunteers answered any questions posed to them regarding eclipses, astronomy and the like.

The partial eclipse began at 1:33AM when the shadow of the Earth (the umbra) began covering the disk of the Moon. The Moon looked pretty strange as you witnessed a big bite being taken out of it, getting gradually larger with time. Throughout this period we had a huge influx of people such that the crowd grew to about 250. Most of the attendees were students walking through campus or taking a break from final exams, but probably about 25% of the crowd was made up of amateurs and members of the public.

Eventually at 2:41AM the shadow covered the Moon entirely, marking the beginning of the total phase of the eclipse. This phase was pretty spectacular--the disk of the moon was bathed in a deep reddish amber color. During totality, the Earth sits right in between the Sun and the Moon, so that most of the sunlight that normally illuminates the Moon is blocked by the Earth. However, some sunlight entering our atmosphere around the edges of the disk of the Earth can bend and refract and eventually make it to the Moon. This sunlight is effectively stripped of all blue light by our atmosphere (this is why our sky is blue) leaving only red light to shine on the Moon.

As you might guess, the hue and brightness of a total lunar eclipse is sensitively dependent on the material in the upper atmosphere of the Earth, since this is where the sunlight destined for the Moon must travel during an totality. Recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Indonesia have pumped lots of ash and particulate into the upper atmosphere. These small particles block all wavelengths of light (not just blue light), and it results in a darker overall eclipse. In fact, this was the darkest lunar eclipse I've seen in the last 15 years.


The crowd got pretty enthusiastic about totality with cheers at several point, a shouted countdown ("9, 8, 7,...") at another point, and just general excitement. After about 20 minutes of totality, half of the crowd dispersed and went back to studying or sleep, but there were still a hundred people or so who remained.

There were a few different media crews present including a Japanese television crew, a New York Times photographer, and a few independent media groups. Photographs taken from our event (see above) were included in a New York Times article on the eclipse. Later that morning, I was interviewed by NPR's "The Takeaway" along with Neil deGrasse Tyson regarding the eclipse and our event.

Totality lasted until 3:53AM, when the shadow of the Earth receded and the Moon began its return to full brightness. The second partial phase (where again the Moon has a "bite" taken out of it) lasted until 5:01AM. At the very end, there were still a couple dozen diehards still present trying to get the perfect picture or just enjoy the moment with a hot cup of chocolate. Overall, the event was a great success with mostly clear weather and around 300 participants. Thanks to everyone who joined us!

--Cameron

Earth's Moon

Dr. Arlin Crotts gave an exciting lecture on the topic of the Moon last night. He is currently writing a popular science book on the Moon to be released in the next six months. After a brief history of the space race and the various exploration attempts made by different countries, he discussed the more recent results indicating the presence of water and various organic molecules. Lastly, he mentioned the future of lunar exploration and that the key players may not include the USA.

The weather started out hazy but cleared up after 30 minutes, giving us good views of Jupiter, the Double Cluster, the Pleiades and of course the Moon. There were 3D wall presentations for visitors as well as an informal Q&A session with Josh Schroeder and Cameron Hummels on a variety of astrophysical topics.

Thanks to all of the 100 attendees who turned out for an excellent night of astronomy.

--Cameron

Forming Stars and Forming Life

Last night, Dr. Daniel Wolf Savin delighted our audiences with a public talk entitled: "The Genesis Projects: Forming Stars to Forming Life". He discussed his recent experiments to categorize the abundance of molecules in the early universe which aided in the creation of the first population of stars. He also talked about the creation of more complex molecules later in the Universe and how these organic molecules set the stage for the development of life here on Earth and perhaps elsewhere. It was a great lecture, and we had such a large audience that not all of them could sit in the 260-seat lecture hall.

While the weather forecast had called for cloudy weather, it ended up clearing part of the way through the night, providing us with an opportunity to observe the heavens. We set up 4 telescopes to observe The Pleiades, The Double Cluster and Jupiter. Unfortunately there were such large crowds that it some people a bit of time to get a glimpse through a telescope.

In addition, Brandon Horn led a discussion of the recent news of bacteria that appears able to replace its internal phosphorus molecules with arsenic molecules. This is noteworthy because it has been held that phosphorus is a molecule necessary for life, so this may mean there is a much larger variety of conditions suitable for life than previously thought.

Jana Grcevich operated the 3D wall upstairs giving audiences a 3D experience in looking at the sky and the things we find in it.

Overall, it was a great night with record-breaking numbers of attendees: over 350! Thanks to everyone for coming out!

--Cameron