9:17pm CST
The moon’s disc is slowly getting darker, and the moon, while still in the east, is very definitely swinging across the southern sky to the west. It’s a beautiful night, but very, very cold. I’m ready to get myself comfortable for the night, so that was the last time I’m going to go outside to look at it. I would love to be a space tourist, though.
9:11pm CST
I’d estimate that only about 40% of the moon’s disk is in the earth’s penumbra, while the remaining 60% is much darker. It’s quite clear where the division between the umbra and penumbra is.
9:01pm CST
The moon is out of the direct sunlight now. The lower left area of the moon is in a darker part of the shadow than the upper right area. In between is where the reddish color is very noticeable.
In other areas of the sky, the constellation of Orion is as lovely as I’ve ever seen it, and because it’s so cold and clear, I can seem more points of light in the Pleiades than I’ve ever seen before.
It’s really cold outside. I don’t know how much more often I’m going to go out to view the eclipse.
8:51pm CST
I’d say that approximately 10% of the moon’s surface is still in the sunlight. The rest of the moon’s surface seems to be in the penumbra of the earth’s shadow. The orangish/reddish color is very definite now. But the moon looks smaller since it’s higher in the sky.
Mythbusters’ 100th episode is on right now. They’re busily busting various MacGyver myths. MacGyver is 0-2 right now.
8:31pm CST
BTW, I don’t think any photos I take of the eclipse will turn out well, so I’m going to leave that to the photography experts. Here is CNN’s story on the eclipse.
8:29pm CST
It’s a very cold, clear night here in central Illinois. While there’s a good deal of light pollution from the city and the street lights, you can clearly see the constellations and many, many stars.
The earth’s shadow now covers approximately 50% of the moon’s surface. Some light is getting through, because you can see the surface that is in shadow. It looks somewhat reddish, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
A fun interview with the Mythbusters, about their 100th episode, and other topics.
CNN’s story about the Navy’s attempt to shoot down the failed spy satellite contains more details than other stories I’ve read.
