I set my alarm for 5:20 am this morning and went outside to a beautiful clear sky cradling the Super Blue Blood Moon high in the western sky. It was really something to see and just as interesting an hour and a half later as the eclipse waned and the outline of the full moon was visible, but the brightly lit portion looked just like a normal half moon. Neither my phone nor my camera did it justice, so I have plucked the Phoenix New Times photo that I think shows the best view to share here. The middle blood moon was at 5:20 am and the second from the left at 6:45am.
More to the local angle was the noise level at 5:20 am. The first southbound Caltrain rolls through B'game at 5:22 and the first northbound one rolls through B'game at 5:32. Gates drop, signals clang, horns sound for longer than really seems necessary. Several commenters have mentioned the San Mateo pols who travelled to DC to try to get some rail horn relief and expressed their hope that B'game would add its voice to the chorus. The airport noise is quite loud even on a clear day and you can read up on that problem here. I remain opposed to 5 am aircraft departures, but that is apparently another thing that needs a major rule change. I'm not sure when Recology starts picking up trash and recycling, but it sounded like it was before 5:20 am which also seems too early. Russ has covered the onset of construction noise starting promptly at 8 am here. The point is B'game could be quieter if we keep demanding that it be.
Thanks, Joe!
Posted by: Peter Garrison | February 01, 2018 at 06:27 PM
Pictures absolutely gorgeous. I had the same observation when I checked about 6am, how darn noisy it was at that time of day.
Posted by: Becca | February 01, 2018 at 06:42 PM
Thank you, Joe.
Posted by: Sally Meakin | February 08, 2018 at 08:14 AM
OK, Kids, here is your wake-up call for tonight:
The longest partial lunar eclipse of THE CENTURY will get underway late Thursday night for the Bay Area and will stick around well into the wee hours of Friday morning.
The near-total eclipse, in which the FULL MOON will fit almost fully into the Earth’s shadow and create a dramatic visual effect, is expected to arrive at 11:19 p.m. PST and will last for 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds, making it the longest lunar eclipse of the century, according to statistics compiled by NASA. The longest total eclipse this century occurred on July 27, 2018, and lasted 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds.
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It is the longest eclipse because it occurs at the lunar apogee when the moon is furthest from earth and thus traversing "slower". The next long one this century will be after we are all gone (2069!). Tonight is called the Beaver Moon because the Indians set their beaver traps in November.
Let's hope the clouds don't blow it for us!
I'll be up.
Posted by: Joe | November 18, 2021 at 01:39 AM
And, interesting coincidental factoid; the word “apogee” comes from the Indian word for “slow beaver.”
Posted by: Peter Garrison | November 18, 2021 at 07:05 AM
You had to be patient tonight to view the lunar eclipse given the cloud cover we had in B'game. A Havana cigar and a nice glass of Scotch helped. From the start to about 12:15 was sort of a peepshow as the cloud breaks offered short, quick, bright views. Then it was looking like a bust until 1 AM when a nice procession of cloud breaks allowed for good, albeit short, views of the Blood Moon tucked right underneath Pleiades. For reference:
The Pleiades are the seven daughters of the Titan god Atlas and the ocean nymph Pleione. During an ancient war, Atlas rebelled against Zeus, the king of the gods, who sentenced his foe to forever hold up the heavens on his shoulders. The sisters were so sad that Zeus allowed them a place in the sky in order to be close to their father.
Posted by: Joe | November 19, 2021 at 01:51 AM