Good morning, DMV! It’s Thursday, August 27.
I like following astronomical events and have even planned vacations around them. I traveled to Illinois for the 2024 total eclipse, and in Paris, I saw the partial solar eclipse on August 12. I was bummed to miss Tuesday morning’s “space jellyfish” — which I realize isn’t an astronomical event, but it would’ve been crazy to see.
So I’m excited about the near-total lunar eclipse tonight, peaking at 12:13 a.m., when about 96 percent of the moon will be darkened by earth’s shadow. And I learned a fun fact from an AP article: eclipses come in pairs.
It’s the second act of the greatest show in the solar system, coming two weeks after a total solar eclipse paraded through Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
Eclipses always travel in pairs as the sun, moon and Earth align so precisely that one obscures the other. That’s because the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, which is 400 times farther away, making them appear the same size — a cosmic coincidence and gift from the universe.
Uh … this almost makes sense, but I can’t really grasp it. I read more online, but the words were mumbo jumbo. So I did a quick search for a good video explainer and landed on this one from “Jenny Geeks Out.”
I like her little solar system model, which helps me visualize the phenomenon. But I wondered, who is “Jenny Geeks Out”? I searched her up and found this fun intro video.
Basically, she is a STEM nerd and NASA solar system ambassador who works in the world of HVAC. She’s also a rock climber, figure skater and black belt in taekwondo.
Anyway, back to the topic du jour (de la nuit): lunar eclipse tonight! Take photos and share them with me, please.
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📰 News around the DMV
🧘🏻 Things to do
13 things to do around D.C. this weekend (The 51st)
Where to celebrate Dolly Parton’s life in D.C. (City Cast DC)
📷 Your joy
(Shannon Keller)
Shannon Keller, 39, of McLean, Virginia, spotted the SpaceX launch Tuesday morning by chance and got a pic of it.
“I headed into work a half hour earlier than usual to try and make it home in time to be there when my daughter was released from her 2nd day of Kindergarten. I didn’t know about the SpaceX launch when I saw this ‘object’ streaking across the sky at around 5:40am looking southeast from the East Falls Church Metro parking lot,” Shannon wrote in her submission.
“It was moving quite fast, and my iPhone 13 mini had to work really hard to get this photo.
“I texted the photo to my sister and a few friends when I got into the office, curious if they knew what it was! Credit due to my sister who solved the mystery, as I am not on social media, and she saw a tip from the NWS about the potential for visibility of the launch in our area.”
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