There was a total lunar eclipse tonight. The skies above Bellevue were uncharacteristically clear for this time of year. We could see the glowing copper moon perfectly. Apparently, this was the last lunar eclipse until March of 2007.
About 15 years ago I wrote this little piece after watching a lunar eclipse in Toronto. It still captures my sentiments well.
I stood outside on the front lawn of my apartment building tonight watching the progress of the lunar eclipse. There were a couple of other spectators out on the lawn too. One chap couldn't see what all the fuss was about, didn't even seem to find it interesting. I thought to myself, how can I explain it to him? If I had kids, how would I explain it to them?
Well here are a few answers anyway.
First of all, eclipses are just plain beautiful. The moon and the stars are always beautiful to look at, but the rarity of a visible total eclipse makes them even more so. The dull copper glow of the eclipsed moon, on a backdrop of stars was lovely to behold.
Eclipses teach us humility. They remind us that despite the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, despite war, famine and pestilence, the universe is unfolding with sublime indifference. They give us the opportunity to raise our sights, if only for a few moments, from our hectic narrow lives to contemplate the broad universe.
Eclipses remind us how far we have come. The accuracy of the prediction of the eclipse - beginning at 9:21 p.m. EDT, total eclipse at 11:08 p.m., ending at 1:53 a.m. - is truly staggering. And yet we are so blasé about it! Centuries ago, an astronomer would be lucky to predict an eclipse within days! Jesuit missionaries in China during the 1600's gained influence with the Emperor because they were able to predict a solar eclipse much more accurately than the Emperor's own Chinese astronomers. Ironically, the Jesuits' success was based upon the Copernican model of the solar system, a model which the Church in Europe deemed heretical.
Eclipses were one of the first phenomena to attract Man's attention to the heavens. And what a powerful attraction it has been! The prediction and explanation of eclipses has been a driving force in astronomy since ancient Greece. Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, all of them contributed to the furtherance of our understanding of our universe by working to improve our ability to predict eclipses.
Finally, eclipses remind us how far we still have to go. Yes, we have binoculars and telescopes to bring the image of the eclipse closer to home. And yes, we've even put a few men on the Moon. But we have still not ventured out into that broad universe, beyond our own Earth, to the stars.
August 16, 1989
I'll add one further observation: A lunar eclipse let's you see the Earth as a whole. Normally, standing on the Earth's surface, you see only to the horizon, and in cities that isn't very far at all. Even from an airplaine you see only a tiny fraction of the Earth. But during a lunar eclipse, you can see the shadow of the Earth, the whole planet, moving across the face of the moon.
10:53:30 PM
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