Double whammy in the
heavens tonight

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

Those up late tonight will have an opportunity to see the two brightest celestial objects right next to each other at the same time a partial lunar eclipse is going on.

Bishop Museum officials yesterday said the moon's encounter with Jupiter should be "fairly impressive."

"It's an added bonus for the end of 2001," said planetarium manager Mike Shanahan. "Jupiter should be quite close to the moon, about 2 degrees."

He said the lunar eclipse will not be as impressive, primarily because it is only a penumbral, or partial, eclipse.

The moon will enter Earth's penumbral shadow at 10:35 p.m. and re-emerge about four hours later.

During that time, people will still be able to see the full moon, but it will appear "dimmer," unlike an umbral, or full, eclipse when the moon seems to disappear.

"The beginning of this will be so subtle that it will be hard to spot," Shanahan said. "Instead of that striking, copper red you see around the moon during a full lunar eclipse, you'll have a slight graying of the moon."

Some astronomers theorize that a lunar eclipse was actually the "star" that led the Three Wise Men to the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem. While the date of this weekend's eclipse falls close to Christmas Day, it is one of many possibilities for a sign in the sky.

"There's so many different theories," said Shanahan. "What they all have in common is that the star would be something that would be ignored by the general population but would be noticed by those looking for a sign."

"Historically, though, many cultures saw an eclipse as a sign of death or destruction. Until recently nobody said, 'Gee, great, an eclipse.'"

Shanahan said this weekend's eclipse should be at its maximum at 12:40 a.m. tomorrow, while the moon is high in the southeastern sky.

According to the National Weather Service, the sky will be mostly clear tonight over Kauai and Oahu, partly cloudy over Maui and mostly cloudy over the Big Island.