UND team to webcast total lunar eclipse Sunday, Sept. 27

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

9-24-2015

Campus Unit

College of Arts & Sciences

Abstract

A University of North Dakota eclipse team will live webcast the total lunar eclipse set to take place Sunday from 8-11:30 p.m. The team also invites UND students and the general public to join them on the top floor of the UND parking ramp for an eclipse viewing party, sponsored by the Society for Physics Students.

Total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and the full moon line up so that the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, changing the moon’s color from its normal bright white to orange to red to dark brown. Total lunar and total solar eclipses can occur between zero to three times a year somewhere around the world.

Sunday night is forecast to have clear skies for viewing the eclipse, despite the possibility of scattered thunderstorms in the morning.

UND professors Timothy Young, Physics & Astrophysics, and Ronald Marsh, chair, Computer Science will be on site to capture and webcast the eclipse. The eclipse team, known as the Sun Earth Moon Systems (SEMS) team, has traveled around the world to cover and webcast Solar System events such as annular and hybrid eclipses, lunar eclipses, and Venus and Mercury transits. These webcasts, which have earned the UND SEMS team attention within the astronomy community, all can be viewed on the SEMS web site.

The UND webcast will broadcast streaming color video of the eclipse, not just static pictures. The video feed will be accompanied by a chat room where individuals here in Grand Forks and from around the world can take part in the eclipse through live updates and commentary, in addition to having their questions answered by the UND team.

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