Transiting Santa

Merry Xmas! Where X stands for star crossing...

Impostors Welcome

From the AAS Women In Astronomy blog (in my RSS feed):

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2011/12/impostors-welcome.html

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." We must not allow ourselves to retain feelings of inferiority. Had I succumbed to that response 30 years ago, I would not be writing here today.

Post Finals Post

Nice job on your Ay20 finals, everyone!

 Juliette

  Daniel

 Monica

 Iryna

 Erik

 David

 Joanna

 Lauren

 Mee

 John

(Sorry, Tommy, I totally forgot to get your picture! Please don't feel bad, I almost forgot everyone's picture, and Jackie kept reminding me)

 Cassi

 Nathan

Lunar Eclipse!

Details here.

Western U.S. states to see unusual total lunar eclipse early Saturday morning

By Justin Grieser

The moon exhibited a deep orange glow June 16, 2011, as the Earth cast its shadow in a total lunar eclipse as seen from Manila, Philippines, before dawn. The last total lunar eclipse of the year is Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011. And there won't be another one for three years. Viewers in the western half of the United States will have the best views Saturday well before dawn, Pacific and Mountain Standard Time. (Bullit Marquez - AP)While the East Coast misses out, residents in central and western states will catch a unique total lunar eclipse Saturday morning. Where visible, the final lunar eclipse of 2011 promises to be eye-catching.

The eclipse will officially begin at 3:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST), but not until 4:45 a.m. PST will Earth’s umbral shadow start darkening the moon’s edges. Total eclipse is set to begin at 6:06 a.m., and last for 51 minutes.

Sky watchers in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest will see the fully eclipsed moon emerge from Earth’s shadow just before sunrise. Assuming clear conditions, the eclipsed moon will appear impressively large and low in the sky. Over the Rocky Mountains and northern Plains, the full moon will still be entirely in Earth’s shadow as it sets along the northwestern horizon. Farther east, from the Ohio Valley into the Southern Plains, observers will see the partially eclipsed moon set before it reaches totality.