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Best Places in Bay Area to Watch the Lunar Eclipse
College of San Mateo has a prime viewing party for watching the super-moon total lunar eclipse on September 27th
When was the last time you saw a total lunar eclipse? When was the last time you saw a Harvest Moon rising at sunset...during a super-moon? That’s exactly what will happen on Sunday, September 27th, 2015 in the evening skies of San Mateo.
The College of San Mateo Astronomy Department will celebrate this rare event by making its observatory telescopes available to the students and public, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. to enjoy this impressive event.
Mohsen Janatpour, Professor of Astronomy at CSM, says the event will take place at two locations: from 6:30-7:30 pm, telescopes will be set up on the College Center Terrace (Building 10). “We’ll start by viewing the moon as it rises.”
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Visitors can take photos through the telescopes, which have special adaptors for photography. Shutterbugs might want to tag your photos with #BayMeadowsLife when uploading them to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to be entered into a San Mateo-wide end-of-the-year photo contest.
At about 7:30, the party moves to CSM’s Observatory for more viewing through the College’s powerful telescopes and available binoculars. At 7:50 the eclipse will be at its totality. The entire phenomenon takes about three hours.
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Basically, the full moon is going to be the closest distance it gets to the earth, so it appears 14% larger in size than during the regular full moon.
While fog won’t present too much of an issue, rain cancels the event, so check CSM’s website before attending. And participants should bundle up.
Tips for Viewing on Your Own
1. Select a wide open space - the ideal location has a wide open view of the sky, such as city parks. Bay Meadows park would be a great location in San Mateo.
2. Know the stages of the eclipse – First watch for the spectacularly large moon to rise, around 6:30. At 7:50, the eclipse will be “in totality,” when the shadow fully covers the moon. Still, this is only midway through the entire event.
3. Binoculars – these are handy for getting up close & personal
Where else to view in the Bay Area?
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers – gather at Pier 15 in San Francisco http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/total-lunar-eclipse-viewing-party-on-september-27/
Chabot Space & Science Center – 7:00-9:30 pm. Cost is $10 https://14884.blackbaudhosting.com/14884/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=0f14d907-2734-4a8b-a372-f627ce5f3e17
