dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (02/28/86)
There's more than one way to enjoy a lunar eclipse. More -- after this. February 28 Columbus and the Moon The moon is going out of the evening sky now. It's waning -- and rising later each day -- so that by next week we'll see it only after midnight. The moon is fun to watch as it waxes and wanes in our sky. But the moon can be useful, too. Consider for example the story about Christopher Columbus and a lunar eclipse. The date was February 29, 1504 -- during the fourth voyage of Columbus to the New World. He and his men were stranded in the West Indies. Their ships needed repairs, and their provisions were low. Some of the crew had turned against him -- and the natives would not bring him food. Then Columbus consulted his astronomical tables. He discovered that a lunar eclipse would occur that night -- and he told the natives that he would destroy the light of the moon as punishment for their neglect. At the appointed time, the shadow of the Earth began to creep across the moon's face -- and . . .you can guess the rest. If you find yourself in a similar situation later this spring, you might make a note on your calendar about the morning of April 24, 1986. This coming April observers west of the Rocky Mountains will see a total eclipse of the moon. As our sister world slides into the shadow of the Earth, a circle of darkness will cover the moon. When the eclipse becomes total, the moon will turn blood-red -- it'll be very beautiful. That's the morning of April 24, 1986 -- a total eclipse of the moon. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin