A Snow full moon, a subtle lunar eclipse and a strange green comet named Honda, the Comet 45P. Rare phenomena occur over our heads today, Friday, February 10th 2017. The comet is flashing emerald green and is marked by a long purple tail.
Skywatchers this weekend will get two special, subtle treats: a penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday (Feb. 10) and a strange green comet reaching its peak viewing time the following morning.
First, February’s full moon — the “snow moon” — will pass through the edge of the Earth’s shadow, which is called the penumbra. During this “full snow moon eclipse,” the moon will be completely shaded, making the change easier to see, although it won’t stand out as much as a typical lunar eclipse when the moon passes deep into the heart of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, and turns a ruddy color.
Meanwhile, Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova will be visible in the predawn hours by skywatchers using binoculars or small telescopes between Thursday and Sunday, in the constellation Hercules in the eastern sky. The comet’s closest approach will come on Saturday, when the object will pass just 7.4 million miles (12 million kilometers) from Earth.
While that’s 20 times the distance to the moon, the comet’s approach is close by celestial standards. Comet 45P will appear blueish-green due to vaporizing diatomic carbon, which appears green in space’s near-vacuum conditions.
The eclipse will be best seen in Europe or Africa and will begin no Friday evening. It might not even be noticeable without intently looking, since its effects are so subtle.
Visibility of the lunar eclipse – Peak
North America (Feb 10th)
Pacific (PST): 4:33pm Mountain (MST): 5:33pm Central (CST): 6:33pm
Eastern (EST): 7:33pm Atlantic (AST): 8:33pm Alaska (AKSDT): 3:33pm
Hawaii (HAST): 2:33pm Newfoundland (NST): 9:03pm
Europe (Feb 10th/11th midnight)
United Kingdom (BST): 12:33am Western Europe (WET): 12:33am
Central Europe (CET): 1:33am Eastern Europe (EET): 2:33am
Australia – New Zealand (Feb11th) – NOT VISIBLE
Australia Eastern (AEDT): 11:33am Australia Central (ACDT): 11:03am
Australia Western (AWST): 8:33am New Zealand (NZDT): 1:33pm
India (Feb 11th Morning)
India (IST): 6:03am
For live broadcasts check here
This the the astronomy approach to the rare phenomena that coincide over our heads.
On the Astrological aspect, I found nothing worth reporting on the internet except that usual eclipses mean the end of things and the begin of things.
As the eclipse occurs in Leo, “we are being called upon to take a step toward actualizing more of our creative expression.”
In this sense I have to check whether it is Greece or the creditors taking a step forward today in Brussels and turn creative in formulating the package of additional austerity measures.
PS Important is that neither the Comet nor the Snow Moon fall on our heads.
