[Wavytone]

A CHALLENGE FOR VISUAL TYPES: Here is a technicality about this eclipse which might interest a visual observer:

It is possible to briefly see simultaneously both the rising sun in the east, AND the eclipsed moon setting in the west, thanks to atmospheric refraction.

However this is only possible if you happen to be standing on a decent site with really PERFECT low horizons east and west (and I do mean zero degrees altitude) AND very clear air. In other words: if you live in Sydney fuggedaboutit.

I saw this once with a similar lunar eclipse in the late 1970's at Mt Stromlo, where the sun rose in the east with the moon setting during the total phase (after second contact).

I've seen three similar lunar eclipses before - one in the early 1980's where at sunset the moon rose fully eclipsed, and two where the moon set soon after the total phase began. In all three cases it was a total waste of time setting up a scope and I won't be getting out of bed for this one.

Yes its the longest this century but in the eastern states disappointing. The time of second contact (5:30) is well into twilight so the moon will basically disappear and won't be much of a sight. To see it properly you have to be much further west - Perth, for example.

The unfortunate part - for the beginners here - is that it is going to be a very unusually long wait for another one over the eastern states - 2031 !

Aside: Something worthy of "Have You Been Paying Attention" (yes I do watch it) ... the ABC was guilty of calling the recent bushfire at Tathra "unprecedented" and was quickly chastised in letters to the editor of the SMH and Herald Sun for rather sloppy journalism - if the ABC had bothered to check the RFS website they would have found no less than 11 recent precedents dwarfing the Tathra fire. The ABC's sloppiness also rated a brief mention on 7 and 9.